The Framed
by Cabba
Summary: 1. Surviving without Harry was a new experience. Albeit unpleasant. Add in a whole new world with him being the centre of the crime of the century, well that would leave anyone dizzy. 2. Sneaking out of Camp to save his best friend wasn't on Percy's repertoire, but priority lists shifted around when one had to save the world. (Sequel to The Lost) Pumki series. AU
1. A Blue Day

**Percy's side of the story! The long awaited, 'The Framed'.**

**Listening to – 'All Star' by Smash Mouth**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the original works of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It belongs to Rick Riordan.**

**Words – 2992**

* * *

She heard Grover Underwood groan. She knew that he realized what was about to happen. Nancy Bobofit smirked.

The boy was right where she wanted. Her current victim was just getting out of detention. He spent an hour there, nearly every day.

"Nancy!" Grover called.

The orange headed girl turned around and glared at him.

"Underwear, shut up!" she hissed.

Grover paled. He hobbled over with his crutches as fast as he could. She looked away from him and then up and he copied her movement. They saw the bucket she had balanced precariously over the slightly open door of the detention room.

Her target was on the other side, pushing the door.

"Percy, no!" Grover shouted.

It was too late. The bucket overturned and fell right on Percy Jackson's head, to Nancy's delight.

* * *

Try as might, after spending nearly an hour of vicious scrubbing, Percy failed at his goal. He put the wet thick hair brush down and looked at himself in the mirror.

Flo gave a giggle. She leaned against the bathroom door staring at Percy and said, "_It's probably gonna last a few weeks. But don't worry; blue looks good on you."_

"Thanks." Percy muttered.

"_You're welcome."_ she chirped.

Flo was a girl about Percy's age. He was the only one who could see or hear her. Like she was a ghost and he was a ghost whisperer from those GhostHunter shows. Well, there was no way else to say it.

Flo was Percy's imaginary friend. Or maybe she was a ghost who could only be seen by him.

He preferred her being his imaginary friend. Even if he was a bit old for such things, Flo was a seriously good friend. She'd help him in sticky situations like puzzling homework, horrible days at school and when he was confused at what medicines to take when required.

Medicines. He absolutely hated them. Being diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD, life was hard. A few years ago, actually a week after his mom, his step father and he returned from England, he had an episode where he couldn't breathe properly.

The doctors said that he had a problem with his airway which could block itself if he started to panick. For that he had received an inhaler and more pills.

Fun.

"_Percy, come on. Make the best of it_." Flo said. He sighed and dried his hair. There were worse things in this world than a bucket of blue hair dye falling onto your head.

Percy exited the bathroom to face his roommate, Grover, his only non-paranormal friend in Yancy academy.

"It's not coming off." he said. Grover was lounging on his bed with a pamphlet. He looked up and saw Percy's hair. His jaw fell open.

Percy's hair was blue. Bright blue, a few shades darker than a clear sky.

"Is there something different about you?" Grover asked. Percy rolled his eyes and said, "Hilarious. Look, I'll just cover my head with my cap. No one will know."

Grover put down the museum pamphlet and said, "You're right. No one will know. Except for the kids who were in detention with you, the kids who were in the corridor, Mr. Wersmet, Nancy, all her friends – "

"Grover! You're supposed to make me feel better!" Percy complained.

"You're right, sorry. So... you excited for tomorrow's trip to the museum?"

Percy gave his friend a dumbfounded look before plopping onto his bed, "Yeah, it's gonna be life changing."

* * *

Next day early morning, Percy left his dorm room, his hair protected by his cap and jacket hood. He headed towards the office to make his weekly phone call to his mother.

His mother, Sally Jackson, was one of the best people in the world. She was a full-time worker, doing her best to support his tuition fees, his step-father, Gabe's spendings and cost of living.

It bugged Percy. You had to pay to live on this planet.

He sighed as the woman behind the desk gave him a strange look. The look she always gave when he'd call his mom. Apparently, not many kids called their parents.

He dialed the only phone number he knew and waited. The dial tone stopped as someone picked up the phone.

"What?!" Gabe's voice came as a shout. Percy jerked back from the receiver, wincing.

"It's me. Give the phone to my Mom."

Gabe shouted something out to him and then yelled for her. A few seconds of silence with muffled voices in the background.

"Hello, Pepe?" his mom's sweet voice came and Percy sighed. He felt homesick.

"Hey Mom, I know I said that I'd call after the trip. But I was feeling lonely."

Her voice became frantic. "Lonely? What about your friend, Grover? And your history teacher, Mr. Brunner? You said they were nice -"

"They are!" Percy said quickly not wanting to upset her, "It's just that, I can't really talk to them. About _that_ stuff. I like them. Even if Grover's a bit …odd."

"Percy... Everyone's beautiful in their own way." she said firmly. Percy nodded. "They're good people, mom. They're good to me."

He could hear the smile in her voice. "That's good, honey. You'll have fun on your trip. Mr. Brunner's one of the chaperones, so it's going to be great."

Percy ran his hand through his newly dyed hair. "Yeah, but Ms. Dodds is coming with us too. She's an absolute -"

Both his mom and the receptionist cleared their throats.

"She is!" Percy whined to both women.

"Being strict doesn't mean -"

"Okay! Okay! Let's talk something else! My hair's blue!"

Stupid ADHD.

"Pepe, could you say that again?" his mom asked slowly. Percy exchanged looks with the receptionist and said "It was all Nancy Bobofit's fault! The bucket fell on my head which now smells so much like watermelon, that even Grover can tell! I bet he now thinks I'm a walking, talking watermelon! My hair's all blue and even though I like the colour, it's so not cool and -"

"Calm down, honey! If it's not your doing, it's not your fault. I don't think there's anything we can do about it. Some hair dyes take more than a month to wear off, so by the time it's Christmas holidays, the colour might be gone."

"M...might?!" Percy spluttered.

"Look on the bright side!" his mom said hurriedly.

Percy suddenly brightened up, "I can irritate everyone with it! And it wouldn't even be my fault!"

"I meant that blue's your favourite colour." she mumbled.

"Yes it is! Thanks, Mom! I'll see you soon! Bye!"

* * *

Even though he felt better, the person he really wanted to talk to wasn't here. In fact, he was across the ocean.

Percy sighed and leaned against the bus seat. His class of grade six were on their way to the museum of Greek and Roman history. More than two dozen maniacal troubled kids on a school trip to the local museum. Percy was convinced that being a school student was a job you just didn't get paid for.

He turned towards his friend, Grover, and was surprised to find him in all smiles. Usually, Grover was insecure to his surroundings, a little scared of strange strangers. With his acne and lanky height, he looked like a short teenager. He had crutches because of some disease in his leg. As peculiar as he was, Percy liked him because Grover somehow reminded him of his older brother, Harry Potter.

About ten years ago, his family had moved to England. Percy wasn't really sure why, but he was glad they did. They made friends with Harry on the first day. Apparently, Harry and Percy bonded over a pumpkin.

Seven years later, they had to move back to Manhattan, leaving Harry behind. It had been the worst day in Percy's life. Not even the ship trip could soothe him. He had never been so far away from him before. He could almost feel the distance between them. The further they got away, the more he started hearing a voice in his head. When they finally moved into a small rented apartment, Flo was waiting for him.

_'Yeah, about that, I was with you the whole time, but just wanted a dramatic arrival into your line of sight. It was cool, though._' Flo said interrupting Percy's thoughts. He just grinned at her. "Yeah, I guess it was."

"What?" Grover asked suddenly.

Percy turned, "Huh? Oh, nothing. You know? There may be a camera hidden in the window sill. People may be watching us."

Grover sighed, "You say the strangest stuff, Perce. But I promise you, no one's watching us. "

* * *

Percy could think of a dozen other places he'd rather be. In the Surrey forest, at Cristy beach, at Montauk beach, in his mom's apartment, back in his bed -

He adjusted his cap and ignored the giggling from around him. None of his hair strands were sticking out, so he wasn't sure why they were laughing at him.

As they walked up the steps, Percy couldn't shake off a strange feeling. He turned around but didn't find anything out the ordinary.

"Percy?" Grover asked, turning around. Percy made a face and then shrugged.

The museum was interesting enough when Percy could concentrate on the millennia old Greek tales told by Mr. Brunner. And yet, he couldn't help at feel tensed.

Nancy Bobofit leaned from behind him and whispered, "What's wrong, Jackson? Feeling blue?"

Snickers erupted. Percy bit his lip trying to think of a good enough retort.

"I'm alright, Nancy. Thanks for asking. You're a really sweet and caring girl."

Nancy's glare made him smile.

"You're nuts, Jackson."

"I know. But don't worry. I won't tell anyone your secret."

There! Hopefully, she'd take a few days to figure that out.

"Mr. Jackson? Do you have anything to say about Kronos?" Mr. Brunner asked and Percy's cheeks felt hot. Seriously, the guy had radar ears! Mr. Brunner might be over forty (a century older than his Mom, and that was seriously old!), he might be confined to a wheel chair that looked like a motorized café especially with the small red umbrella by his side, but the guy was an all-around perfect teacher.

"Um... yeah." Percy said racking his head for the Titan myths, "Kronos was this super ultra Titan like the watch. He was the lord of watch."

"Lord of time."

"Yeah, that. He heard a… what? Shopping spree?"

"Prophecy." Grover whispered.

"Yeah! He heard that his kid god was going to kill him. So he ate them all except for Zeus who escaped. Then when Zeus was all grown up, he went back, made his dad throw up all his siblings and he cut his dad into tiny sushi like pieces and threw them into tobasco- "

"Tartarus." Grover said.

"Yeah, then the gods kinda lived happily ever after, hating their own kids."

A few kids snorted, some of the girls looked sick, others rolled their eyes.

"A 21st century answer. I have to admit, I haven't heard an explanation like that." Mr. Brunner said, sounding amused.

"You're welcome, sir." Percy grinned. His teacher was cool like that.

Mr. Brunner gave them a more detailed version and dismissed them for lunch.

"Mr. Jackson! I need to speak with you."

Percy shared a look with Grover and said, "I'll catch up."

The history teacher looked at him significantly, "Mr. Jackson, it's good that you know the old stories, but you must understand how it applies to real life."

Percy nodded slowly, "Applies in real life? Like a moral? _'Don't eat your kids'_?"

"No. I meant how it's relates to you."

Percy blinked and said, "Are you trying to say that you're going to hold a pop quiz on Greek gods and it's a surprise to the rest of the class? Isn't that cheating?"

"Perseus, this is of great importance! Do not take this lightly! Open your mind and be prepared. This is the only warning I can offer you!"

Warning bells were ringing in his head. In other words, Flo was screeching high pitched words.

"_Wait! He knows your full name! I thought your mom agreed that she'd fill the registration form as 'Percy D. Jackson'! What if he's spying on you?_"

Calm down. Percy thought to himself and to Flo. He'd never told anyone his full name for years so calming down wasn't very easy.

"Ok. Yeah, I'll keep that in mind, sir. Uh... I have to get going. Getting hungry!"

Percy ran out only to bump into Nancy.

"Jackson! Why you -"

"Nancy, sorry but not now."

He pushed past her. She suddenly grabbed his jacket to pull him back. Unfortunately, on reflex, Percy's hand flew back and smacked her arm.

"Ow! What the -"

"Jackson! I saw that!" Ms. Dodds said, almost appearing out of the air. She had a mean '_you're in big trouble' _look directed at Percy who tried to defend himself, "I swear, I didn't mean to!"

Ms. Dodds ignored him and checked Nancy's arm. Percy vaguely remembered being in the same situation with Dudley Dursley when he was seven. The incident resulted in Harry and him getting into a fight with Dudley's entire gang. That had actually made Percy resent fighting. Ever since then, he had convinced himself that it was better to confuse the enemy by saying funny and nonsensical stuff. Percy wasn't one to indulge in physical violence. It was Harry who actually liked to fight.

"Jackson, you're coming with me." Ms. Dodds' voice snapped him into reality.

Nancy smirked at him. Percy felt like running away, but he followed the old teacher into an empty gallery.

"Now, honey? You've been giving us problems."

Percy stuffed his hands into his pocket and said, "Yes ma'am."

"It's better if you confess now and return it."

Percy nodded but then stopped "Re... return what?"

"Do not delay the inevitable. Surrender your stolen items and we will leave you in peace."

Percy's face was fixed in confusion. Her lines like were something from an old movie. It didn't make any sense.

"I didn't steal anything." Percy said slowly.

A shudder passed through Ms. Dodds' form. For a brief moment, Percy thought he saw sharp teeth, claws and wings. He blinked and he saw her normal angry self. He scratched his cap.

"Do not lie, Perseus Jackson! We will come to know of your intentions, honey!"

Percy could hear three horrible things this time. Her voice sounded more scratchy and less human like. She had called him by his full name. (The second person to do so in the same day) and the worst part? She was still calling him 'honey'.

"_Get out of there_!" Flo yelled. Percy took a few steps back. To his horror, Ms. Dodds started changing forms.

Her black bike jacket shriveled into her skin as skinned wings came out her back. There was a smell of sulfur as she became bigger, her eyes turned sharper and more lethal looking as her glare pinned him to the floor.

_My imagination's just working overtime. She's not real_. Percy thought desperately.

Ms. Dodds let out a snarl. She flapped her wings threateningly and hissed, "Give it back, Lightning Thief!"

Percy yelped and ducked when she slashed one of her sharp talons.

Suddenly, the doors were thrown open and Mr. Brunner wheeled in looking quite angry.

"Alecto!"

"Chiron! This has nothing to do with you unless you assisted him!" the flying math teacher hissed.

Mr. Brunner simply reached in his coat pocket and took out a pen.

Percy might have imagined it but, he definitely saw fear in his flying teacher's face.

She let out another snarl and flew right through the window. Percy shouted, "Whoa!" as the glass broke away from the pane. He stared open-mouthed at the window.

Percy turned towards Mr. Brunner, but he wasn't there. The door was shut and everything was quiet.

"Wha-?" Percy's voice died away to see the window intact. There were no signs of damage at all. He tried to take deep breaths.

"Okay, okay, I was just hallucinating. Happened many times before. You just have to take your meds. You're not going crazy. It's all good." He said out loud frantically.

Percy went out the hall and heard agitated whispers from the end of the hallway. He took a look outside the museum and saw his classmates lounging around the grounds in front the museum. He also saw a perky blond woman walking around them like a teacher.

Then he definitely heard Grover's whisper.

"_I think it's about you."_ Flo said. Percy rolled onto the heels of his feet, thinking about eavesdropping. He then ran silently and stopped at the door.

"Chiron, he saw her!" Grover complained.

"Yes, but the mist will confuse him long enough." Mr. Brunner said.

"I'm not so sure, sir. He's smarter than he looks."

"With the warning I gave him, he may start seeing more. May be we'll have to take him to camp sooner than I planned."

Grover's voice sounded relieved. "Yes, we should. His scent must be stronger to monsters than to me. There's something about Percy that scares me, though."

Percy gulped. Okay, they were talking about him and he was pretty sure that it had nothing to do with school.

"Yes, and that will be one of the reasons he could get killed. Don't let him out of your sight. I shall decide tonight."

"Yes, but..."

Grover's voice faded away as Percy stumbled back. 'Killed?' He was going die?!

Percy ran out the museum, ignoring when someone shouted, "Jackson!" after him.

He climbed into the bus to grab his bag. Checking to see if he had enough money for a cab, he bolted.

"_Are you sure this is a good idea?"_ Flo asked, sounding just as freaked out as he felt.

"Look, if Mom can't help, no one can."

* * *

**There we go! Two stories about Percy before the reunion! Stay tuned!**

**(Keep in mind if you kill me, you cannot get the rest of the series.)**

**Q: Who is Sally paired with in my Pumki series?**

**Cabba.**


	2. Waking up to the new world

**A: Sally is paired with Sirius! Not Paul. As much as Paul Blofis is loved, it's different in my story.**

**Listening to – Everybody's working on the Weekends by LoverBoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Rick Riordan is the father of all things Percy. J.**

**Words –5937**

* * *

Percy wished he had his skateboard. Unfortunately, it was back in his dormitory. He did have an old one at home, but was so rusted and used, it could break anytime.

He looked out the taxi at the familiar streets and felt safer. Did Grover and Mr. Brunner know where he was? Was Flo right about them spying on him? What if they knew about Mom? Oops, he hadn't thought about that!

"_We're here. So, at least tell her if you're gonna run away_." Flo chided as Percy lingered on the sidewalk few minutes after the taxi dropped him.

Percy nodded. His apartment was nothing fancy. Two bedroom flats on every floor. His mom could barely keep up with the rent, because between Percy and Smelly Gabe, she was working way too much. He also knew that she was slowly saving for at least one air line ticket to London.

Percy just made it to the stairs when the landlady, Mrs. Dusword's door, swung open and she marched out. All four foot one of her frame was a body of insults. At the moment, she wore a pink bath robe and a green face mask. Her hair was in rollers and her glare did nothing for her looks.

Percy jumped and yelled, "God! Oh! Mrs. Dusword! Is it Halloween already?"

She raised her eyebrows, "Hilarious, Jackson. Shouldn't you be in school?"

Percy thought. He was possibly in danger. So he should be out of the danger zone, which means he had to be closer to a help source, in this case, his mother. Besides, being at school might be a danger to a lot of people.

"Nope, I'm where I should be." Percy smiled, but Mrs. Dusword frowned. "It's easy to see why you're a drop out, if you always run away from where you ought to be. You're a big time failure! Runts like you are the worst things this world has because they grow up to be no good slackers. I'm looking at one and I can tell that you'll be of no use to the world!"

Percy blinked and muttered under his breath, "You're mean."

"What did you say?!"

Percy sighed, "Nothing."

She threw her hands up, "Well, that's what you are, Jackson, a big nothing!" she slammed the door in his face.

Percy pressed his lips together and then said, "Aren't you due back at the lab to get your bolts tightened?"

Flo sniggered and he sighed. "Sooo should've said that." He shook his head and ran up to the first floor.

He was about to ring the doorbell before remembering that his mom wouldn't be home at the moment. He had forgotten the number at her job place.

"_Gabe's probably's in there with his buddies."_ Flo said sympathetically. Percy groaned.

Now what?

_'You could wait for her. Get onto the fire escape and up to the terrace. See if anyone's looking strange or hanging around the block._'

Percy sighed but did it anyway. He stayed on the terrace for about forty minutes watching everything in sight.

His eyes kept drifting to the three very old women who sat on a park bench on the other side of the road.

From the distance, they seemed to be knitting something so large it might fit King Kong. The sky blue yarn was extremely long.

And then, quite suddenly, they stopped in their movements and looked up to stare at him. Percy felt self conscious and wanted to look away. But he couldn't. Their stares made him freeze and Percy felt fear. Then, the middle woman slowly and deliberately took out a pair of long golden scissors. She trained her gaze on him and cut the yarn.

When Percy heard the clear 'snip' of the scissors, he turned and ran down the fire escape to his floor. Prying the window of his room open, landed as noiselessly as he could on the cluttered floor.

He stared around the room in dismay. In his absence, his room always magically transformed into Gabe's study.

There was a lot of waste like old newspapers, torn pages, some beer cans, a shirt (way too large for him) and his bed was completely unmade.

Percy started cleaning (kicking the mess) to make his room more inhabitable. He gave up his attempt and tried his door which was, thankfully, open.

The smell of cigarette and beer greeted him and he immediately covered his nose.

The TV was switched on in full volume, but Gabe and his 'friends' were in the kitchen playing a card game loudly.

Percy took a look at the clock. It was close to four. Mom should be home any second...

The main door opened right on time. Sally Jackson came in looking tired in her 'Sweet on America' uniform. She looked as though she had been solely living on coffee. Percy knew that her dark circles meant that she had been working on a draft for a book late at night.

She looked up and her jaw dropped when she saw Percy poking his head through his door. He pressed his finger to his lips and beckoned her silently. She looked a little confused but snuck past the kitchen and into his room.

She gave him a hug and held him by his shoulders, "Honey, I know you missed -"

"No, mom listen! Something weird happened. Like mega weird! Or maybe I need more meds. Wait! Today two people called me 'Perseus!' my favourite and horrible teachers! Mr. Brunner and Ms. Dodds! Then Ms. Dodds turned into this huge angry bird, but she wasn't as colourful as the Angry Birds; she started screeching at me and then Mr. Brunner came and she flew away through the window, but when I looked again the window wasn't broken and I was alone! Then I heard Grover and Mr. Brunner talking about taking me somewhere and that somebody was after me and -"

Sally gripped Percy by his shoulders and said, "Pepe! Calm down, deep breaths!"

Percy calmed himself and stared at his mother. She had a small frown as she kept her eyes his collar. The intensity of her gaze reminded him of when Harry did some quick thinking.

"Continue." she said as she removed his cap and stared at his dyed hair.

"Um... Then, I kinda freaked out and came here."

Sally blinked, "Didn't you tell Grover?"

"No."

She looked worried, "Oh dear, honey, Grover and Mr. Brunner were keeping a look out for you!"

"I... what?"

Sally was about to say something else but the door slammed open to reveal Gabe Ugly-ano.

"YOU?!" he yelled glaring at Percy. Sally pushed Percy behind her and said, "Gabe, don't-"

"Shut up! What the hell are you doing here?"

At that moment the main door banged open and Grover came in looking thoroughly desperate.

"Percy?" he shouted. "Why'd you leave?"

"Who are you?" Gabe yelled.

"Grover, what are you doing here?" Percy asked wide-eyed.

"It's happening! Oh gods!" Sally started fretting.

Grover waved one of his crutches around, "We gotta go! Your scent's getting stronger!"

"Scent? Can you smell watermelon from my hair?" Percy felt confused.

"Hold it! No one's going anywhere!" Gabe said furiously.

"Grover, where's Chiron?" Sally asked.

"He left for camp!"

"Percy, listen to me. Stick to Grover like glue. He's your protector."

"You ain't going nowhere, freak!" Gabe thundered pushing Percy against the wall.

WHAM!

Grover slammed his shoulder against Gabe. He then bunched up one of crutches on Gabe's right foot and kneed him in the gut. Gabe went down like a potato sack.

"G-man, that was gnarly." Percy muttered in shock.

"Sally, Percy needs to leave. Right now!"

* * *

Percy's head ached as though someone had taken it to do the salsa and reattached it badly. His stomach was rolling as if he hadn't eaten for days. His throat was spongy and he felt something moving in it. He was about to panic when he realised that he was eating something soft. He blinked and saw a golden hallow.

Was he dead?

"Hey!" someone whispered. Percy blinked again and the room came into focus.

"Hey." Percy said automatically. He was looking up at a curly headed blond girl, about his age. She had startling grey eyes like stormy clouds and Percy had an odd feeling that he'd seen her before.

"Have we met, before?" Percy asked. The girl frowned.

"I don't think so." she said carefully. "But Chiron went for you specifically. You have to tell me! What was stolen?"

Percy shook his head and lost consciousness.

When his head felt better, he tried to open his eyes. His gaze fell on a guy who had blond hair and blue eys. about two dozen of them all over his body. Percy's mind decided to blackout.

When he came to for the third time Grover, Mr. Brunner and the blond girl were talking.

"Percy! Ah, good. When Argus said that you had awakened, I was surprised to see the opposite. But you look better now."

Percy wasn't paying attention to his words. He was too busy looking at his legs. Mr. Brunner was on his feet. All four of them. From the waist below he was a white horse. Complete with a tail.

Percy would have got breathing problems right there if he hadn't seen Grover standing without his pants. His legs were covered with greyish brown fur and he had no feet. Instead, they were hooves.

"My name is Chiron and this is the infirmary for-"

The words tuned out when the blond girl sighed, put on a Yankees cap and literally disappear.

Percy passed out again.

When he finally did wake up, it was dark. Percy jumped up from the bed taking deep breaths. It was all coming back to him.

They had taken the car and were on their way to Long Island when lightning struck the car which did a flip off the road.

It was a blur of pain and rain as his mom helped him get a half-conscious Grover uphill towards a pine.

It hit him like lightning. The minotaur. The horn.

His mom.

Percy grabbed a side table for support. Mom's gone.

She had used her knife as a distraction to give Percy some time. The minotaur only got angrier with the knife impaled in his shoulder. He had grabbed her and... squeezed? She was gone into a golden shower of light.

Percy wanted to sit in a corner and cry. Mom was gone.

Grief overtook him and he suddenly felt a crushing sensation of loneliness. Percy sat on the ground and wrapped his arms around his legs, trying to keep his head level. It wasn't working so well. His chest felt heavy as if something was physically trying to take away his air and he felt suffocated.

What was left for him?

'_Harry_', Flo whispered. Percy swallowed, unable to breath. He leaned against the wall to keep his back straight. Taking out his inhaler from his jacket pocket, he shook the little blue device before breathing out hard and taking a puff. Feeling his chest lighten by a degree, he did it once more.

_Water_, he thought, wanting to rinse his mouth. He reached for a bottle on the table.

He had to keep calm. So, he was an orphan. He'd live with whom? Smelly Gabe? No way in heck.

May be he could sneak into a shipping container along with some luggage to get to England. He'd hitchhike to Surrey, get to Harry and live in the forest.

How was he supposed to explain about this to Harry? It had been more than 4 years. What would he think if Percy turned up without mom?

Percy clenched his fists. That wasn't important. Harry had to know what had happened. Even if it meant that he'd hate Percy for the rest of their lives.

Step 1: Get out of US

Step 2: Find the right ship

Step 3: Travel undetected

Step 4: Reach Harry

Simple.

Percy straightened up and looked around. He was in a hospital like place. There were many beds in a row with tables. Percy's table had a bottle of water, a goblet and his bag. Grabbing for it, Percy checked for his extra inhaler, tablets, cash, earphones, a small tape recorder, a note book, a pen and his cap.

He blinked. He didn't put his cap in, did he? No...

Somebody else opened his bag and probably stuffed his cap in while looking through it.

That was plain rude.

Putting on his cap and lifting up his hood, he closed his bag and slowly headed for the door. The sky was dark. It was probably early in the morning.

Percy stepped out and looked in awe. The place was huge and very nature friendly. Harry would have liked it. So would Mom. Percy closed the door carefully and quietly walked through the grounds looking at everything. He looked up at a large blue painted three storyed building. He stopped briefly feeling a sense of calmness. The air was cool, the silence was sweet and the smell was lovely. Scents of fruits and fresh earth reached him and Percy inhaled deeply. It was wonderful.

He passed through a small hillock and saw two rows of cabins. He passed by a large open area where he could see trees that led into a dark forest.

Harry would definitely love this place.

Percy was quite sure that the tall pine tree was the way out. And he would have gone if he hadn't heard the roar of water crashing onto land.

Percy changed directions and started running towards the sound. He ran up another hillock and stopped at the breathtaking sight of the ocean. He grinned momentarily, remembering Mom as she described her dream house. A spacious place with two floors above, located on a beach and at the end of a forest with scenic views on all sides.

Ironic. That was the word. Percy had stumbled upon a place like this after she was no longer there.

He sighed and walked towards the raging waters. The sea seemed distraught. It was exactly how he felt. He walked into the waves till he was knee deep. Finding some rough boulders, he sat against them and stared at the spot where the black ocean met the black sky.

Percy didn't sleep. He couldn't. He watched as the waves became unbounded sometimes washing over him. He tried not to react at the sea, which seemed to be angry but not at him. He cupped his palms to take some of the water and sipped the ocean. He felt the saltiness of the water and smiled.

The sun slowly started to rise and it cast red and violet streaks through the lightening sky. The scene was so beautiful, Percy felt cheated. Mom was gone and the world continued. Percy got up to start yelling at the treacherous planet when a voice asked, "What are you doing?"

Percy turned to see a blond guy with brown eyes and casual gait looking at him. The boy was a little taller than Percy and wore an orange shirt with jeans cut-offs.

"Standing." Percy replied.

The guy stared, "I can see that."

"Then, why'd you ask?" Percy said.

The guy stared at him and then gave a cry, "You're the horn guy!"

Percy's eyes widened. He put both hands on his cap-covering head, "I don't have horns!"

"No, what I meant is that you killed the minotaur with its own horn! Without any training!"

Oh, that. Percy had had a lot of training. But he never wanted to kill the bull monster. When it had killed Mom, Percy had seen red.

"Yeah." He muttered.

The guy walked towards him and held out his hand, "I'm Adam Austins, son of Aphrodite."

Percy stared, "What?"

Adam shrugged, "Just got claimed a few weeks ago. You know your god parent?"

"My what?"

"Didn't Chiron tell you?" he asked.

Percy just looked at him.

Adam gave him a 10 minute explanation.

"My dad's a god?" Percy asked laughing. How was a dyslexic, ADHD, asthmatic, D+ grade achiever kid be a child of a god?

"This is Camp Half-blood, refuge for demigods like us."

Percy didn't want to believe it. But he did.

"That explains so much!" He sighed in relief. Adam looked glad that Percy understood so fast.

"Santa Claus, cookies, shoelaces, the eggs, my therapy!"

"What?" Adam asked amused. Percy kept thinking about all the strange things Mom might have hinted on and the crazy stuff Harry and he could do.

Was Harry a demigod too? An English Greek demigod?

"Who's my dad then?"

Adam shrugged. "We won't know until you're claimed. We can keep a look out for your powers if you have any."

"What powers do you have?"

Adam thought. "Not sure. At least, I'm not obsessed with my hair like Tim. But speaking as a son of Aphrodite, you need a tan. Where you been? Antarctica?"

Percy rolled his eyes, "My skin's like this. I don't tan."

Adam hummed. There was a sound of a horn.

"Someone's missing." Adam said in alarm. He stood up as did Percy.

They ran to a large place like a pavilion where there were a few kids along with the blond girl he'd seen before. Next to her stood another blond guy who looked to be the oldest. He looked around college age and was giving others directions.

"If he did go into the forest, then the teams will be no less than three. We already checked the Big House and Infirmary."

"What if he left?" a buff girl in real bronze armour asked.

"Then, I don't think there's anything we can do."

"Wait! Who're we looking for?" Adam asked.

"The kid who came a day ago. The one Grover brought-" the blond girl started and then stared at Percy.

"He's right there!"

Everyone turned towards him. A few snorted, some rolled their eyes and others yawned.

"Jeez, kid. Camp's got enough craziness without disappearing tricks." The tall blond guy said.

Percy felt abashed and also a little touched. None of them knew him and yet they were about to send search teams for him.

"Sorry. I was at the beach. Couldn't sleep." Percy apologized. The group started to disperse while Adam, the tall blonde, the blond girl and the brown haired girl in armour stayed with Percy.

"Why'd you leave the infirmary? You were bedridden for a day and now... you need ambrosia. Don't wander about, you'll be eaten." The blonde girl told Percy. She turned and headed for the cabins.

"Who's that charming and delightful girl?" Percy asked smiling. Adam laughed. "Annabeth, daughter of Athena. Don't cross her. She'll crush you like a bug."

Percy blinked, "She crushes bugs?"

The tall blonde held out his hand. "You're funny, kid. I'm Luke. Son of Hermes."

"Clarisse, daughter of Ares."

"The war god?" Percy asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, something wrong, punk?" she growled. Percy chuckled. She sounded like Harry.

"Nah, you just remind me of someone I knew."

She frowned and then glared at him. "You and me are going to have a little sparring session after breakfast today."

She left the trio and Percy tried to understand what just happened.

"You're dead, kid." Luke said as Adam whistled.

* * *

Percy had decided to leave after breakfast. He would tell Chiron and may be the centaur would even help him sneak onto a ship.

Percy sat next to Luke along with the other Hermes and undetermined children. He looked around to see Adam sit with his siblings who, like him, had perfect looks and excellent forms. Annabeth was seated next to her family where everyone had blond hair and sharp grey eyes. Clarisse was at a table where there were many kids like her. Muscled and noisy.

There were so many kids that Percy couldn't believe that they were all demigods.

Apparently, most were dyslexic and diagnosed with ADHD. No one said anything about being asthmatic so Percy kept that quiet. He'd never told Grover and had also kept his medical bracelet in his bag when the car had crashed. The only one who might know was the person who went through his bag.

Percy was quite sure that no one else had a weird bronze bracelet on their left arms.

He didn't like bracelets.

He watched a part of his breakfast go up in smoke and thought, _I'll be back here someday_.

This was a place just for him and he hoped he could come back, may be make friends...

"Watch your back, Clarisse's been eying you." Luke whispered subtly.

Percy finished his food and grabbed his bag. He wasn't sure how many people knew of his blue hair. He had kept his cap on his head the entire morning.

He walked towards Chiron who suddenly leaned towards a slightly dumpy guy in a loud shirt and summer shorts. The man looked about forty and drunk. He made a complaining sound and then sighed. Percy was about to open his mouth when the portly old guy said loudly, "Listen up, half-wits! I have another headache, here. Peter Johnson-"

Chiron whispered into his ears and the guy sighed, "Does it look like I care? Fine! Percy Jackson, welcome to camp, blah blah blah."

Percy was glad that he couldn't blush properly otherwise his cheeks would've been red.

He steeled himself and flashed a grin at the crowd, "Wassup?"

A few smiled at him. Some waved, others looked wary.

Percy leaned towards Chiron and said, "Can we talk?"

Chiron looked surprised but followed him out. Percy thought about the direct approach. He usually didn't bother with bea

"Will you help me sneak into a ship?"

Chiron stared, "is this another of those slangs?"

"Huh? No, I'm serious. I need to reach England!"

"Why?"

"Well, I don't really have anything left here. And there's someone waiting for me in Surrey."

Chiron looked concerned. "Who?"

"The only one who really cares. I ...have to tell him that my mother's dead."

Chiron's face had a look of sadness, "Percy, it's too dangerous. Once you realise that you're a demi-god, the monsters will come for you."

"Why?" Percy asked confused.

"Their diet consists mostly of heroes."

Percy nodded, "Then it's good that I'm not a hero."

Chiron sighed, "Being a demigod makes you a hero."

"You sound like my mother." Percy said, " '_Be my little hero and go clean your room'_."

"Percy, the camp is protected by magical defenses. That's why you're safe. The forests are stocked with younger monsters for training. But, you must understand that this is the only safe place for you in the world."

"But, he's different like me! I mean, he can talk to snakes! And they talk back!"

Chiron frowned, "And you think he's a demigod?"

Percy nodded.

"Percy, if things were different, I would consult with the camp director but we have bigger problems."

"But –"

"And I'm not privy to some secrets of the gods. There may be a safe haven in England just for him, if he was born there."

"He was."

"Then he'll be safe and I'm sure he'll understand if you tell him sometime later. How did you know him? For how long?"

"He was my neighbour for about seven years. We always stuck together. He's my older brother."

"What?"

"Oh, we're not related, but my mom adopted him unofficially."

Chiron nodded looking thoughtful.

"I'll try to find out more about England, Percy. But please, don't leave."

Chiron patted his shoulder and left. Percy huffed and stuffed his hands into his pockets as he went towards the Hermes cabin to dump his bag.

"Percy!" somebody shouted and he turned to see Grover running after him holding a shoebox in his arms. Percy couldn't stop looking at his furry legs.

"Hey, Perce." he stopped and panted.

"You're half donkey." Percy stated. Grover looked miffed, "Goat! I'm half Goat."

"Oh, sorry. I'm kinda new to this."

"S'ok. How're feeling?"

Percy gave him a small smile, "You're the first one to ask that, G-man."

Grover smiled and gave Percy the shoebox.

"Oh…thanks. How d'you know my shoe size?"

"It's not shoes, Perce."

Percy opened the box to see the minotaur horn he'd broken. Its tip was crusted with blood.

"Thanks." Percy muttered again, closing the box and shoving it into his bag. He didn't want to ever see it again. His set of nightmares for the night were reserved.

"Newbie!"

Percy and Grover saw Clarisse and some of her brothers march towards the duo. The former groaned inaudibly. He had really wanted to back to the beach to wallow in self pity and blame the world.

"Hi Clarisse, I'm busy, so bye." he turned but realised that he was facing a guy with a surly grin.

He was surrounded. Why couldn't he be like Harry who'd actually like to be in a situation where he had to fight his way back physically?

"So, runt."

"I'm not a runt. I'm actually at a good height for my age."

Clarisse snorted, "Fine, Prissy. You have a sword?"

"No. I didn't pay my last installment to the Dangerous Equipment Section of Camp, so they took my sword and scissors."

"Take this." a guy thrust a long thick sword that Percy had to hold with both hands.

"Um, no, thanks."

"Hey, it's not an option!" she said, swinging her sword.

Percy shrugged. "I'm not fighting."

"Says who?"

"Says me." Percy grinned. She was funny when she was irritated.

"Fine, no swords. I bet you punch like a sissy, Prissy."

"Oh, don't worry; you could too if you tried a little harder." Percy said with a straight face.

Clarisse's face turned red in anger. Percy felt like he should apologise _before_ she exploded.

"You're getting a free nose job!" she shrieked, clenching her fists.

"Why?" Percy asked.

"Clarisse! Don't! He doesn't know how to fight!" A girl's voice yelled. Percy saw the blond hair of Annabeth pushing it's way through the crowd as she shoved people.

"He doesn't know how to shut up either!" She let her fist fly towards his face.

WHAM!

Just kidding.

Percy dodged it quite easily.

She threw a few more punches but he dodged them all.

"Joking aside, I don't fight. I'm a nonviolent person. Peace!" he made the peace sign. She swung a kick and he jumped back cleanly avoiding her leg.

"What if your life's in danger?" she asked advancing forward.

Percy crouched and replied, "Daily occurrence. I haven't fitted it into my schedule, yet."

She lunged and he jumped over her head and tucked and rolled onto the ground behind her.

The crowd backed up to give them more space. Annabeth watched in surprise as a look of boredom settled on Percy's face.

"Clarisse! Enough, you better stop before Chiron decides to come over here." Luke said stepping into the circle. Percy nodded. Clarisse glared at him and said, "We just started."

She saw the look on Luke's face and amended, "Fine, whatever, but Prissy and I have unfinished business."

Luke sighed in exasperation, "He didn't even do anything! Go on. I'll meet you on the archery grounds."

Percy grinned as she glared at Luke but backed away nevertheless.

"Don't worry, 'Reese, just watch your back." Percy called out.

She turned around and started towards him again but Luke stopped her. Somebody grabbed Percy's hand and pulled him away from the clearing.

"Annabeth?" he asked because whoever was pulling him was invisible. She removed her cap and shimmered into existence.

"Hi there." Percy greeted her brightly.

"What d'you think you're doing, Jackson?" she snapped at him. Percy shrugged, "I think I'm holding a conservation with you."

Annabeth lost her irritation, "What?"

Percy didn't understand for a second and then he face-palmed, "Conversation! Not conservation! I always get them confused."

She nodded slowly, "You need to think about this. You actually got a chance to fight a monster. You have no idea how many kids wanted to be in your place!"

Percy frowned, "In my place? Trust me, Chase, just be happy you're not in my place. Only one person can handle being me!"

"Who?"

"Me!"

Annabeth looked annoyed for some reason, "Whatever. I've to take you to get your weapon."

"I said it before, I don't fight."

"It's not a lifestyle choice, Jackson. If you wanna live you need a sword."

Percy grumbled all the way to the big house. Annabeth kept turning to see if he was following or not.

"What kinda sword do you have?" Percy asked.

"Not a sword, a knife."

Percy's eyes lit up. May be if he showed her his knife (dagger actually), she'd stop nagging him. But he decided to play with her a bit.

"Do you think I'm a knife kinda guy?" Percy asked skidding to her side.

She rolled her eyes, "Knives are for the quickest fighters and the fastest thinkers. So that means, you can't handle a knife."

Percy knew that she was making fun of him, "You don't even know me."

Annabeth smiled and stopped in front of the door gesturing him to go in. "Oh, I can tell. Go on, Chiron has it."

Percy nodded and hoisted his bag on his shoulder.

"You're wrong, Annie." he said as casually as he could. He enjoyed her glare and went inside.

Chiron was standing next to the guy in the purple shirt who had introduced Percy to the others.

"Percy! Come meet our camp director, Mr. D."

Mr. D didn't bother to look at Percy. Percy was reminded of a sulky little school boy.

"Hello, sir." Percy said nevertheless.

Mr. D looked at him as if about to snap but then stopped. He gave Percy a long stare before nodding. Chiron gave him a look at the exchange. But he recovered quickly. He reached into the pocket of his tweed coat hung over a hook and pulled out a pen. He handed it to Percy.

Percy slowly took it. Wasn't he supposed to get a sword?

"A dangerous and powerful weapon. Learn how to wield it in times of distress." Chiron said. Percy stared.

"This is a pen. This-is-a-pen." Percy said waving the tiny bronze ballpoint pen in their faces.

"Half-bloods." Mr. D muttered shaking his head.

"Click it." Chiron said, amused.

The demigod looked at the regular looking pen and clicked it. A sharp bronze blade grew and Percy exclaimed, "Whoa! That's awesome! It's for me?! Yeah!"

"You sure you want to give him a sword?" Mr. D whispered.

* * *

Percy dropped off his bag near the sleeping bag Luke had given him. The large room was filled with bags, clothes, shoes, etc. It seemed quite crowded.

"Horn guy!" someone yelled from behind and Percy jumped. He turned to see two boys, about his height. They were absolutely identical except one was taller. Percy could tell that they were Hermes' sons.

They grinned at him and slung their arms around his shoulders.

"We heard about your face off with Clarisse."

"And since you're not in the Infirmary, the rumours must be true."

Percy waited. One them stuck out his hand, "We're Travis and Conner Stoll, resident sons of Hermes."

Percy let out a burst of laughter which he controlled.

"What?" they asked, sounding bemused.

"Your name is 'Stoll'?"

"Yeah. So?"

Percy raised an eyebrow, "Don't you get it?"

They looked confused. Percy smiled. He adjusted his cap and then put his hands in his pockets and left the cabin. He had wanted to go to the beach, but decided to take a trip around all the cabins.

They were twelve in all going in the shape of a U. They were personalized by the demigods. Some like Zeus, Hera, Poseidon and Artemis were empty. Hermes and Apollo were crowded but that was mostly 'cause of the unclaimed kids.

Cabins like Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Ares, Athena and Demeter had about a dozen kids each while there were only two sons of Dionysus.

Percy went around and reached a large open area which was for target practice.

Most of the kids were from the Apollo cabin but there were others. Percy watched one boy helping a smaller girl to hold the bow and arrow.

"Hands straight, Mary. Hold the edge tightly. Good, now the target-"

Mary lost her grip on the arrow and it flew out a few feet. It took her a few tries to aim. Percy was about to leave when someone called "Horn guy!"

It was starting to get irritating.

A short kid, may be ten years old, came running towards him. "I saw you fight with Clarisse and not get beat up!"

"Thanks." Percy said .

"Can you fight? You can, can't you?"

Percy sighed in exasperation, "Why's this camp obsessed with fighting? Why can't we be normal kids and play 'Hide and Go Seek'?"

"If we played that with monsters, it'll be called 'Hide or Get Eaten'." Luke said walking towards him and short boy. "Hey, Michael."

"Hey Luke, I think I'm getting better."

Luke smiled. It made his scar ripple. "That's good. Didn't I tell you practice helps?"

Michael grinned and turned to Percy, "Wanna try?"

"Oh, um, I actually did this before. No thanks."

"Were you horrible at it?"

"Um..."

"You need practice!" Michael chirped pushing his bow and quiver of arrows into Percy's arms.

"Tell you what, if you hit the target, we'll let you go. If you don't..."

Luke gave him a smile that made him shiver unconsciously. Percy looked at an expectant Michael and said, "Alright." he slung the quiver around his shoulder and drew an arrow to put it in position. He looked at the target thirty feet away and took a deep breath. Expelling the air, Percy raised the bow and let go of the arrow.

They watched as the arrow flew and hit the quiver of another demigod's stash, ten feet away from the target.

"Okay." Luke said, as if trying not to laugh. "You just need some pratice…"

* * *

After lunch, Percy went to the beach to sit on the boulder. The waves weren't as strong as they were in the early morning. His jeans were soaked as he didn't bother to dry at the moment. The heat was quite strong but Percy didn't feel bothered by it. If anything, he was quite comfortable.

It got him thinking. He knew that others couldn't control water like he did. May be that was what Adam was talking about. Powers. Water god. How many kinds of water gods were there?

"Jackson!" a voice yelled. At least it was a change from 'horn guy'.

It was the blond Californian type girl, Annabeth. She had a frustrated expression. Percy stared at her. Her grey eyes were like steel. If they had been blue, she would've been the perfect Cali girl.

"Hey." Percy grinned at her. She stopped at the shoreline.

"I need to talk to you." She yelled over the sound of the ocean. Percy called, "About what?"

"Just come over here." She yelled again.

Percy sighed, stood up, slipped on the wet surface of the rock and fell into the one foot deep water. He shook his head. Anytime he tripped, he was sure to trip when there was water around. May be, he wasn't a son of a water god.

Percy stood up and blinked at her. She was staring at his head.

He looked down and saw the cap floating in the water around his feet.

Oh man.

* * *

**Percy's being Percy. Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Q: Based on the books, who is the oldest demigod, out of The Seven in Heroes of Olympus?**

**Cabba.**


	3. A Father and a Brother

**I'm so sorry for the delay. There's a problem in my laptop and I just couldn't get online, not even on Google. We'll be getting it fixed this week, hopefully. Until then, I'm right here in the cyber cafe. Thank goodness for cafes.**

**The response for the second chapter was amazing! I loved it! Seriously, guys keep it up!**

**Listening to – Hey Soul Sister by Train**

**A: Annabeth's the eldest. In one site, I think, it's written that she's older than Percy by two months. So – June. That's ironic considering her vendetta against Hera/Juno.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the original PJO or HP series.**

**Words –3695**

* * *

"Um… wow." Annabeth muttered. Percy picked up his cap and said, "My dark secret has been spilled." He rolled his eyes when she raised her eyebrow, still staring at his hair.

He came out on land and she frowned, "Look, I know you don't want to fight, but learn defense at the very least. Luke can teach you sword fighting. He's the best. Within a week you can learn how to hold one!"

Percy decided that Annabeth was simply forced to talk to him by someone. May be Mr. Brunner. She was both trying to help him and demean him.

"I can use a dagger. I haven't tried my sword yet."

"Dagger?"

Percy shrugged, "Yeah. Like you but yours is a knife. Say, what's the difference between a knife and dagger?"

Annabeth was looking at him hard; her grey eyes flashed like steel as if she was going to challenge him right there. Then she blinked and relaxed, "Knives are slightly longer and heavier than daggers. They're sharp only on one side and makes it harder to use for fighting. You need serious skill for that. Daggers are lighter and not many people take to it. Balance is very necessary to handle it and if you try using it without an expert handler, you can hurt yourself. Daggers have a double edge sharpness and also slightly out dated with the times."

Percy watched her say the whole explanation as if she had been ready with it before he had thought to ask.

"So… you can use knives to cut vegetables but not daggers?"

"Did I say anything about kitchen use?"

"No. But if I think it like that, it's easier for me to remember."

She frowned and shook her head at him.

Percy let out a breath and looked away from her. Honestly, he didn't know what to do now. He didn't want to fight, that was there. He did not want to go back to the archery grounds either. That kid, Michael, would just start laughing at him again. No way was he going to the sparring rooms. Clarrise was wrestling with a couple of opponents and winning every time. He was not going near the racing arenas. He had seen the tree nymphs overtake even all the oldest Hermes campers.

The lava rock climbing had looked fun though… but Mom would have said a definite no.

* * *

Percy had woken up on a beautiful Saturday morning. Which meant, by the end of his first week, he was somewhat familiar with the rules of the most favourite game of the Campers. 'Capture the Flag – Demigod Style.'

"Are there really monsters in the forest?" Percy asked warily as Luke helped him find a helmet that was small enough for him. The game was mainly Hermes versus Apollo, both of which were the biggest cabin housers. Percy had fallen into a stupor when Annabeth (the Athena cabin was on their side), started going over their second back up plan incase their decoy and main groups were caught.

It wasn't fun to wake up by falling on your butt with everyone sniggering and a furious Annabeth glaring at you.

Not that things had gone better during the game, either.

He was isolated as one of the decoys without him even knowing.

He was almost killed by Clarrise and her goon brothers.

He was almost monster chow. That hell-hound had been the first and the last hell-hound he ever wanted to see. But somehow, he didn't feel very lucky.

Of course, it was then his cap had fallen out and everyone gasped at his blue-dyed hair. He sighed in exasperation.

"Guys, relax! It was a prank. Just an accident – WHOA!"

His blue hair was glowing blue and green with a trident. For a moment, he thought he had grown three horns but then realized that it was like a holographic projection from those sci-fi fiction shows.

Things went even worse after that. He was assigned to Poseidon's cabin after that. Honestly, he should have seen it coming. Who else could have temper tantrums with a mini tsunami if one's brother knocked a sea-shell out of one's hand?

For the record, that had been totally Harry's fault. Plus they had been six at the time.

Percy dropped his shoe box which contained the Minotaur's horn on one of the dusty bed in the dusty lonely cabin and fell right beside it. The week had been going quite well. He had made a few friends, since most were like him. Outcasts of the normal… sorry, mortal world, misunderstood, mistreated, runaways, kicked out of homes, foster homes, shelters…

Percy laid down on the bed. Atleast he had had his mom. Others hadn't been so lucky to have their mortal parents till the age of twelve – almost thirteen.

But mom was gone. So he was like them too. In silent mourning because camp didn't really give him time to grieve. He had to try every sport to see which one suited him, he had to not lag behind on his schedule or it was chores and nobody wanted them.

_Well, I gues you can opt for the chaperone role between the nyaids and campers,_ Flo mused. Percy groaned, his voice muffled by the old pillow.

* * *

You know it's gonna be a bad day when you fall off the wrong side of the bed and miss the floor.

Percy couldn't remember falling asleep. But he did remember waking up with water in his lungs and going back to sleep. Five minutes after that he jerked awake to realize that his head was submerged underwater. He blinked and raised himself.

The bed was right next to a fountain with water sprinkling from it. Percy was sure that it had not been there the night before. He shook his head and sat up on the bed. He groaned. His back ached from the strange position he had been the entire night. And his head ached with the nightmare of two wrestlers and an eagle and a horse, all fighting as the world crumbled around them.

That had not been a good way to spend the night.

Percy turned his head and saw a light sky out the window. It was probably seven or so in the morning. He flopped back onto the bed ignoring the slight dust cloud that had been thrown up as a result.

He wanted to go home. He wanted to be back with mom, Harry and a plate of hot blue chocolate chip cookies. And blue jellies. And maybe coke, if mom would let him.

Anything to remove the heaviness in his chest. He felt it harder to breath and he tried to calm down Think of nice calm things. Think of Harry and his no-amusement expression every time Percy said a joke. Think of mom whenever she made faces behind Petunia Dursley's back.

Think of making the ache go away. Percy screwed up his face as he felt his eyes burn a little.

He wanted the loneliness to go away.

There was a knock on the door. Percy laid still wondering if he should pretend to be asleep but then sighed before flipping his left wrist to let Oneroi, his faithful dagger, appear into his hand. Then for better measure, he clutched Riptide in his right hand.

The sword, though heavier than the dagger he was used to, felt safe. He felt better with the sword and knew at last what his mother had been talking about 'the second weapon.'

He never thought it would be a pen.

"Come in." Percy called warily.

The door swung open and Annabeth peeked in, her bright yellow hair shimmering, even though there was no breeze. She let her eyes gaze around the cabin for a second, taking in the dullness before finally settling on Percy. He hid the dagger underneath the pillow and balanced himself on the mattress.

"Morning." Annabeth said in a low voice. She seemed out of it for a reason. Her demeanor was slightly less active, she seemed tired. Percy watched her for a few seconds before nodding.

"Chiron wants to talk to you."

Percy gave her a second's look and, without questioning, got up and followed her, discreetly pocketing his sword and retreating the dagger.

He grabbed his cap too as he saw Annabeth stare at it, when he left the cabin.

His cabin. There was only one known demigod son of Poseidon. So the cabin technically was his, right?

"Um…?" Percy began but Annabeth had turned around and walked away briskly in the other direction.

"Good morning." He muttered under his breath and walked for the Big House, where he guessed Chiron was waiting for him.

They were on the porch. Chiron and Luke were talking in hushed tones. Both looked like they had pulled an all-nighter. Like Annabeth, they were tired and Chiron looked his age, which as Percy could vaguely remember, 3000 years at the very least.

"Ah, Percy! I hope you've had a good night's sleep?"

Luke sighed at that.

Chiron had a hopeful look which made Percy desperately wish that he had had a dreamless night, but something in his face must have told Chiron the truth. The centaur nodded solemnly.

Luke gave Percy a wane smile and patted his shoulder. "Get used to it, kid. Only way to cope."

The blonde left him and the trainer.

"Sometimes I do feel tired." Chiron said, his voiced weighed down by stress.

Percy gave him a small smile trying to comfort the old guy. Chiron smiled back and gestured him through the doors.

* * *

"I swear, sir. I didn't steal anything!"

Chiron nodded but didn't say anything encouraging like, _That's good. Now all we have to do is take a polygraph test and show the results to the gods and prove to them that you're not the Lightning Thief!_

He said no such thing.

"The gods won't accept that. Your father is probably the only one who believes you are innocent. I feel that he has been keeping an eye on you."

Percy felt stunned. His father was closely watching him? But he'd never seen the god before. Or at least, till how much he could remember.

But if he had kept them under his watch, then he wouldn't have let mom die, right?

Or maybe all he cared was for Percy's survival to help him.

Percy almost missed Chiron's words.

"I'm quite sure that it was him who gave me message about you at Yancy. I don't actually get many personal requests about possible demigods, that's why I went undercover to your school. I sent Grover to search for you and he came back within a week with the news of a strange boy who is 'more than he seems to be'."

Percy huffed, "_Strange_?"

Chiron chuckled but then looked sober, "Percy you must understand the gravity of the situation. Zeus believes that you stole the Master Bolt under your father's instructions during the summer solstice. It is an unspoken declaration that he will wage war if he does not get the weapon back before the Winter Solstice."

Percy thought. "When… when is that?"

"December, 21st ."

"Oh." He looked slightly relieved. "We have plenty of time then. A few months. The gods could find it -"

"Percy, Zeus needs you to bring it back. He thinks you stole it, so you must be the one to return it."

"But I didn't!" Percy protested. "I didn't even know I was a demigod until a week ago. I had no idea that my father wasn't dead or 'lost at sea' like mom al… always told."

His voice trailed off. Lost at sea. Mom had known!

_Well, of course she did. She taught you how to fight in case your life was in danger, didn't she?,_ Flo said, suddenly.

Percy's shoulders slumped. It was like she had known that he'd have to go and play Marco Polo with the most powerful godly weapon ever built.

"Percy." Chiron said, his voice, now, grave. "I order a quest. You and two companions, selected by you, to go search for the Bolt. You must meet the Oracle."

Percy was staring off into space. But he jerked back a soon as Chiron had said, 'Quest.'

"What?!"

"The Oracle, Percy. She will give you the prophecy for your journey."

"Prophecy…" Percy muttered, slowly realizing it. "Wait… now?"

"Yes."

The demi-god stared at the centaur.

"She is in the attic. You'll see steps on the third floor."

It took Percy a little while to grasp the concept that he actually had to go ask this oracle about how he was going to journey to his death. Monsters were searching for him. He was technically a broken oath. His father had claimed him only so that he could get the Bolt back to avoid a war.

He felt a little lost. As he climbed up the stairs, dragging his feet, his mind was miles away. How was he supposed to just go out there and get a hidden weapon?

"_Well, I suppose that's what the oracle is for."_ Flo muttered as she walked next to him. She held his hand to make him feel better. Percy felt the warmth and it reminded him of mom's hugs. It was something he missed terribly.

Arriving on the third floor, Percy saw a long corridor. He saw the steps leading to the attic. The floor was slightly dusty. Clearly, not many people wandered about the place.

There was a look-out window with a front view of the clearing in front of the forest. Percy watched a few campers rush towards the tables for breakfast and felt his stomach rumbling. He had to get over this fast. Or else, his stomach would be waging war over the rest of his body.

Percy went up the stairs and saw a trapdoor above him. Not really ready for the inevitable, he swung it open and stepped up.

The attic was the much better stocked than any museum.

There were a few chests, a broken violin, shields, swords and weapons, old clothes, two tables with unrecognizable clutter, a dusty piano…

Percy doubled back and looked at the large instrument. The dust was a clear layer over the dark wood and ivory and ebony keys but it was the most beautiful and ancient musical instrument he had ever seen.

The colour reminded him of Harry's guitar. Dark brown, almost black. The cover for the keys was open and so he ran his fingers over them sighing at the soft music notes.

Ever since returning from England, he had felt very lonely. His British accent had set him aside from the other kids, school mates and neighbours. His mother never had enough time to spend with him and he had already broken his old skateboard.

Mom had decided to send him for guitar classes but that made him even more depressed since he was reminded of Harry every time he held a six-string or acoustic.

So they tried the piano.

In four weeks, Percy was living for music through the ivories and his mother had finally stopped worrying about him too much.

Guitar was one thing, but a piano was a work of art.

Percy smiled and took off his cap to set it on the table. He would have started a music piece right there if he hadn't heard a small sound from the corner. Turning towards the only window of the attic, he stared at what was next to it.

It was gruesome. It was as big as a normal human but wrapped in mouldy old bandages. It had a set of beads around its neck and strands of wispy grayish black hair was protruding from between the wrappings around the head.

A hippy mummy. Fancy that.

Percy walked towards it, already forgetting about the piano. The mummy was simply seated on a small three-legged stool, leaning against the corner wall. The light from the thin curtain covered window made it look as though there were strange expressions on the dead mummy's face.

Percy shivered. Flo said thoughtfully, "_I think this is the oracle_."

"No kidding." Percy muttered, "Why did it have to be a mummy? We're not Egyptian, we're Greek, right?"

"Who did you think would have been the oracle, then?"

"I don't know, something not alive, maybe?"

"Don't worry, the mummy's dead."

"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better."

Flo snorted but fell silent. Percy walked forwards and stood in front of the mummy.

"Right." Percy began. "Um… I have this problem. Well… it's a really big one. So I was wondering if you could help me?"

For some reason, Flo was overcome with giggles. She clapped her hand over her mouth as her body shook.

"I'm seriously in trouble. Could you, like, tell me my destiny or something?"

The mummy's head turned towards him. Percy and Flo jumped back.

Then, the dead body sat up and opened her mouth. Green vapours spilled from the mouth and surrounded the room. It smelt old and suffocating. Percy covered his nose hoping he didn't start choking.

The room turned green and the whole scene changed.

Flo disappeared along with the attic and the mummy. Percy watched in shock as he saw the smoke dissipate slightly to show grass below him, a large castle, some distance away, a lake a little farther off and a forest beside it.

He looked up to see a blue sky with few clouds. The sun looked as though it was a couple of hours away from setting.

The place looked amazing. Now if there was a beach…

Percy frowned as the view became clearer. He gave the castle a second look before deciding that it did look familiar. He couldn't point out why. But the more he stared at it, the calmer he felt.

It was then he looked down and saw five kids, his age sitting on the ground around a large tree.

Two girls, one with birght red hair and another with bushy brown tresses sat slightly away from the water's edge while two of the boys, one with the same red hair as the first girl and the other with messy black hair like Harry's had been, sat by the shore.

The third boy was sitting directly under the tree holding a white flower in his hand.

Percy stopped breathing.

This boy had his head down and he gave the flower special attention. His hair was pitch black and unruly, his skin a very pale and slightly sickly white, just like Percy's.

But it was the way he sat that made Percy alarmed. His shoulders were straight, his posture stiff and his legs crossed and digging into the dirt. The grass around his ankles was curling into the skin as thought they wanted to hug him. The tree above him bent a little to give him shade.

Suddenly, the red haired boy raised his head and gave Percy a vacant look. The seriousness of his face clashed with his pasty sin and freckles. Percy flinched at the inhuman, double timbre voice that came from him.

"_You shall go west and face the god that has turned_."

'West?', Percy thought bewildered. He couldn't take his eyes off the strange five.

Next the brown haired girl looked up. Her eyes were brown and dull as though she was looking through water. "_You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned_."

It was the same voice. Percy understood that it belonged to the oracle. But what was actually happening? Were these people being possessed?

The second boy, the one who looked familiar, raised his head and Percy saw glassy blue eyes look right through him. "_You shall be betrayed by one who calls you friend_."

Percy let out a breath. Betrayal? That was not good.

Then the second girl, the one with sharp red hair, looked up and her expression was even more terrifying. She gave him a blank gaze like the others and said, "_You shall fail to save what matters most in the end_."

Those words were as horrible as the voice. Even more so. Percy felt his spirits falling but then the third boy finally looked up and Percy almost went into shock when he saw fresh green eyes staring at him.

The eyes looked alert and they widened in surprise.

For a moment, Percy couldn't feel the ghostly presence of the oracle. The boy stood up slowly and watched him. Percy stared back, equally silent and confused.

It couldn't _not_ be him. He was the same height. Same serious-thinking expression. Same looks, though a little older than when he was at age eight. _Obviously._ The hair was longer, like Percy's, but not blue. So, maybe no one dropped blue dye on him. The bangs stuck out at odd angles, but looked completely natural on him. Percy searched for a scar and… there it was!

The jagged lightning bolt shaped scar.

For a second, Percy thought about the situation of the missing Master Bolt, but that went away when the boy in front of him raised his hand slightly.

Percy immediately tried to grab him, but then the image flickered.

'No!', Percy wanted to shout. But instead he kept still and tried not to move, "Harry?"

The boy stared back at him and Percy knew without a doubt that this was him. No one else could pull off that look. That, 'Oh-boy-why-does-this-happen-to-us?' look.

And nobody else had eyes that green.

"Percy." He whispered back and Percy smiled. It had been too long since he had heard that voice.

The scene blurred slightly and the last thing he saw was Harry's rare hopeful expression. His brother was never one to be hopeful in the positive way.

But Percy was.

The vision was completely dissolved. He was back in the attic, looking at the mummy, whose black eyes were glowing green. The glow disappeared and the mummy was dead again.

This was a sign. Percy smiled. He was going to meet Harry soon. That's for sure.

If he survived the quest.

* * *

**Going slow? Don't worry, this is just the beginning… Stay Tuned!**

**Q: What is canon Percy's real middle name?**

**Cabba.**


	4. Sweet old ladies are dangerous

**Listening to – Main soundtrack of Pacific Rim**

**A: There's no mention of Percy's middle name in the books. A site says that it's 'Allen', though I'm not too sure.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series or to Harry Potter.**

**Words – 2501**

* * *

"Why me?" Grover asked hurrying to catch up to Percy as the latter jogged along the grounds towards the sparring arena.

Now that Percy had gotten bit of hope and energy in him, he felt ready to take on the quest. Maybe it was because he had seen Harry and it had not been a dream. Or maybe it was piano in the attic. Or maybe it was because they had a few months until the Winter Solstice and he was taking it easy about the consequences. Or maybe it was because planning about this was a way to escape the pain of thinking about his mom.

Whatever it was, Percy was going along with it. He had a quest. Apparently, it was a tribute to go on a quest. No one said anything like, '_Whoa, Zeus thinks you stole his lightning bolt? That's rad!_' or '_Awesome, you might be responsible for the next world war!_'

No, people looked at him and congratulated him on receiving the highest honour of being a demi-god – Being sent on errands by a god, in this case, both Zeus and Poseidon.

His father. That was another reason why everyone at camp suddenly started treating him different. At first they had avoided him, but then they started talking more, including him in activities, letting him go ahead in the line for sacrificing his portion of food for the gods…

Honestly, it was only a few people who seemed to treat him the same way as before. Luke was cheery. Adam was funny. Clarisse was angry. Annabeth was huffy (no other word for it.) The Stoll brothers were silly. And Grover had always been there. For nearly a year.

"Because I trust you." Percy said simply.

Grover was quiet for a while before asking, "Have you thought about this?"

"Sure. I spend a nearly three days after the oracle visit. It was nice thinking."

"Thinking was nice?"

"Yeah." Percy joked. "I never realize how productive it was to think."

" 'Productive?' Three syllable words? What's with you today?"

"Hey! I've used three syllables before! Like… like 'conservation'!"

"That's four, Percy."

Percy turned away as Grover chuckled. The former smiled. He really did have a gift to make people feel better. Just crack a joke. But sometimes when that didn't work, it was best to act dumb.

"So… who're you looking for?"

Percy stopped at the door and put his hands on his hip, adopting a 'serious' expression on his face.

Percy was a master at pulling up different expressions. He had the 'angelic smile' (from mom), the 'devish grin' (from mom), the 'blank look' (himself), the 'sweet, confused pout' (himself), the 'emotionless mask' (from Harry), and his newly learned one – 'the classic librarian look' (from Annabeth).

He had many others up his sleeve, but right now, he wiped away his smile, scrunched up his eyebrows, wrinkled his nose and let out a thoughtful 'hmm' as he stared around at the people slicing straw dummies.

The look marred with his hair, but gave the definite show of a serious Percy.

A few kids stopped in their work and gave him a glance, wondering what was happening.

Percy could feel their mystification (five syllables!) and his eyes lit up when he saw the person who he needed to talk to.

"Luke!" He called.

"Luke's the third person for the quest?" Grover muttered. Percy didn't look away from the blonde who turned around and smiled.

"Yeah, horn guy. Whad'ya want?"

Some snickered. Percy let out a 'humph!'

"Where's Annie?"

Luke raised an eyebrow, his smile wavering a bit before answering, "She's on the archery grounds."

"Didn't see her there."

"Maybe she'd with Katie Gardner. They sometimes spend some time together."

Percy watched as the son of Hermes turned back to decapitating the straw dummy and its girlfriend. He shook his head and turned to Grover.

"Katie? Katie? I don't know any Katie."

"I do. She's the oldest daughter of Lady Demeter." Grover put in as they walked up to the cabins.

"Which God is that?"

"Goddess. Demeter is the Goddess of Agriculture."

Percy stopped and blinked at Grover. "Agriculture? And the girl's name is Katie _Gardner_? Is that supposed to be funny?"

Grover shrugged, "Coincidence?"

"There's no such thing as coincidence, G-Man." Percy said, a frown appearing on his face. He was starting to get an idea of the behavior of the immortals but then pushed it away.

Outside a large green brick cabin laced with hundreds of pots around the building and a full front yard of kitchen plants (Harry would've loved it) A brown haired girl, with a wheatish skin sat next to Annabeth, with a few scrolls on their laps as they spoke in low tones. Percy only caught words like, 'fire', 'pant' and 'Stoll.'

He cleared his throat.

"Era –" Annabeth stopped and watched Percy with her flashing eyes.

"I come in peace, Earthling." He said adopting a deep hollow voice.

"I knew you weren't human." Annabeth replied in a lofty voice.

"Yeah, apparently, I'm half god. Imagine that, Annie."

Grover snorted and Katie Gardner gave him a strange look. Annabeth glared at him.

"What do you want, Horn Guy?"

Percy sighed at that and said, "Well, for starters, could everyone please stop calling me that?"

"Why? Do you not like someone calling you by a name you don't approve of?"

Percy pushed his lips up to one side, understanding what she meant.

"Deal. Will you help me now, _Annabeth_?"

"In that case, yes I will, _Percy_."

She got up and gave Katie her scroll.

Grover watched as the two started talking about the quest. Their voices raised momentarily before lowering down. Percy started making hand gestures while Annabeth folded her arms and looked down at him with a little more interest than what she had pretended.

"I can see why Silena had started betting on them." Katie said out of the blue, startling Grover. He gave her a look.

"What?" Katie asked defensively.

Grover shrugged, "Nothing. Wh – what else has Silena said about them?"

Katie watched the pair of them who was engaged in a slightly heated conversation about planning.

"Inter-looped triangles." Katie said and picked up her papers before heading inside her cabin.

* * *

"She said we have to start from Camp. What was wrong with my plan? The thief would clearly have started from the Empire State building, right?" Percy muttered as the Grover and himself fell behind Annabeth on the way to Argus' camp van.

Once the three of them had started trying to map a way with the prophecy, something Percy could not forget, Annabeth had immediately concluded to not go anywhere near the Empire State Building.

"Look." Annabeth said with a sigh. "The thief was able to sneak out of Olympus with the most powerful weapon of the gods. Don't you think the person would have covered any and all tracks around the building? He or she would've been at least a little bit paranoid. If we need any clues, we have to look somewhere where we're sure that the thief would've been and where he would've given less attention."

Percy gave Grover a 'Seriously?' look, but Grover seemed to agree with her.

"Yeah. The person would have been a little sloppy with the weapon. He must have had a lot of trouble hiding the power."

Annabeth sat up at that and stared at Grover.

"Grover, you're a genius!"

"Uhh.."

"Oh!" Percy joined in. "I get it!"

"I'm losing you two."

"We need someone who's well-versed in our world, someone powerful enough to mask the weapon's power!"

"Uhuh." Grover frowned and Percy shook his shoulder. "That means, I can prove that it's not me! I mean, I have no idea how to _mask_ power."

He trailed off. There was a light memory washing over him.

_Harry was masking his scent._

The shield around House no. 4 of Privet Drive and Harry's mysterious plant power.

'_Wait a sec! That's stupid. Harry isn't even in New York! He has nothing to do with this_!' Flo yelled out.  
Percy nearly jumped.

"What?" Annabeth asked staring at the son of Poseidon whose eyes had gone out of focus.

"Nothing. Nothing, I was just… thinking."

Grover raised an eyebrow, "You're thinking a lot nowadays, Perce."

Argus dropped the trio off near a Walmart store, a good distance away from Long Island Sound. Percy could no longer smell the ocean and his bravery dwindled a little. He was really out here. Out in the outside world. With the knowledge of Gods.

He almost expected a monster to pounce on them the moment the van left, but nothing relatively weird happened.

Annabeth fidgeted with her Yankees cap. "Come on."

* * *

Percy grimaced at the angry welts that Grover and Annabeth sported.

After Argus had left them by Walmart, they had walked ahead to find a bus depot to head off towards central Manhattan. The bus wasn't very crowded and so the three had noticed something strange when three old ladies hobbled into the vehicle after them.

For a frightening moment, Percy thought that it was the same group who had been knitting the giant sock. But these women were different, there were fiercer and less experienced in a 'heavenly' fashion.

They had turned out to be the three Kindly Ones, sent by Hades, the Lord of the Underworld.

Though Annabeth's plan was for Percy turn invisible with her cap and get off the bus, thus leading the furies away, it had been ruined when he had turned around to see the winged creatures take out burning whips.

Somehow, it had lead to the bus blowing up with the monsters trapped inside, but some of the mortals had shrieked and started pointing at Percy. Nobody else was hurt, but they had to get out of there fast.

"Can't you take more ambrosia? The cuts would heal completely, right?" Percy asked, passing Grover a small flask of water.

Annabeth closed the lid of the box which had the food and nectar of the gods and shook her head, "Its use is limited in a short space of time. If we consume too much nectar or ambrosia, we'll burn up."

Percy watched the burn on her arms reduce to a small pucker.

"When you say 'burn up', does it mean, like, a fever?"

"No, I mean 'burn up', like, go up in flames."

"Oh."

You can't have something good without the bad." She said wisely. Percy nodded. He understood that.

Grover gave Percy his flask and took out his reed pipes. "May be I should play a tracking tune. I haven't got a hang on the nut map –"

" 'Nut map'?" Percy asked in an 'Are-you-serious?' tone.

Grover shot him a look and started to blow on his pipes. A horrible flat and high note of sounds emerged and Percy winced.

A bush beside them shivered and shot out a few thorns, embedding themselves into Percy's bag.

"No wait. That's not right." He muttered. Percy rolled his eyes, but Annabeth looked a little worried. She got up and dusted some wet mud off her jeans, trying to look ahead into the descending darkness of the forest.

"I think I can smell something cooking." She said.

Percy raised his head as a particularly tasty whiff of junk food wafted through the air. He tried not to groan. He was never allowed to have junk food except for the occasional reward of French fries and coke. Mom wouldn't have let him have burgers or pizzas.

'_Healthy foods keep us alive._' His mother would chant. Harry never had any scruples and had always eaten his greens without hesitation. Percy always knew that regular kids never usually had such a strict diet.

"Percy, come on." Grover called and he looked up to see Annabeth walking ahead and Grover following her towards the smell.

* * *

"Point to note for the future." Percy said, as the package containing a head of snakes disappeared into thin air, hopefully into Olympus. They collapsed next to the stone counter of 'Aunty Em's Emporium'.  
"Sweet old ladies are the deadliest. I mean, seriously! She tried to kill us!"

"Actually, she wanted to turn us into statues and break mine. At least she would've kept yours." Annabeth pointed out. Percy turned towards and gave a sarcastic smile, "Yeah, that was the good part. You didn't have to be so close to her!"

Annabeth glared at him. Then she said in a pseudo deep voice, obviously trying to imitate Percy's, " 'She's just a sweet old lady, guys! What's the harm?' "

Grover let out a small bleating like laugh which he muffled quickly.

Percy's shoulders slumped. "You're right. Like I said, sweet old ladies are disasters. Like the ones who cut up that silly yarn, the furies on the bus and now –"

"Wait!" Annabeth said suddenly, staring at him as though he had said something life-changing. "What yarn?"

Percy shrugged, "I saw three old women from my apartment terrace who were knitting something. It was seriously huge. Like XL-times million size. They were seriously old too. Then they cut the yarn and it was really creepy."

Annabeth and Grover shared horrified looks.

"What?" Percy asked staring at them.

"P-Percy." Grover stammered. "Did they look at you? At all?"

Percy nodded.

"Oh gods. Oh dear gods!"

"Wait, what?"

"You… you Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth yelled.

"Excuse me?" Percy said, feeling affronted. "What did you –"

"How can you see something like that and not tell us?!"

Percy watched them in alarm, "What's wrong? They didn't attack me at least. They weren't as bad as the furies or Medusa –"

"Percy, they're worse, much much worse! They're the Fates."

He stared at them not really understanding. It seemed to be a big deal, but he couldn't see the damage they could.

"The Fates." Annabeth hissed. She lowered her voice and said, "Percy, the Fates are few of the most powerful beings in our world. They see everything, know everything. They ordain the truest and greatest prophecies for the Delphi spirit to listen and give us."

Percy felt the air around him change with her words and gulped. "They sound like the three monkeys of wisdom."

Grover groaned and started ripping up a left over wax paper with his teeth.

Annabeth looked like she wanted to strangle Percy. He took a step back. That look reminded him a lot of Harry whenever the latter was irritated. Of course, Harry would never hurt Percy, but there was no guarantee that Annabeth wouldn't either.

"Clarisse was right. You need to learn how to close your mouth! Get a filter! Percy, you can't go around talking about powers like this. You can't just send severed petrifying heads! You need to learn how to respect or else the gods, monsters and the Fates would kill you!"

"I'm new." He mumbled.

"Then learn! You're a demigod! You need to grow up! Learn our ways before you get incinerated!"

* * *

**A little harsh, but she called him Seaweed Brain. So, stay tuned for the next chap.**

**No question for this chapter, but check out my new poll.**

**Cabba.**


	5. A Change

**Listening to – Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park**

**Checking on how much you guys are 'enjoying' the story, I'm changing things.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the works of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rick Riordan is the founder, owner and author of the books.**

**Words – 2995**

**..**

* * *

Percy grinned as he was able to locate the keys to the old truck in the back of the Emporium. Even Mythological Greek monsters kept them in the visor above the seat. He had never driven a vehicle before, but it couldn't be that hard, right?

He turned the key in its place and pressed down the accelerator. The truck jerked forwards and stalled making Percy hit the head rest dully.

"Um, Perce, I'll drive." Grover said as he lugged some cash from Aunty Em's counter. Percy sighed at Grover's voice and turned around to see Annabeth stuffing some gold drachmas into her bag from an old large fountain next to the petrified Uncle Ferdinand.

They spend the night at the emporium, behind the counter, to avoid looking at the statues. Annabeth was giving him the cold shoulder but Percy tried to act as normal as possible. Really, he did.

'Impertinent' was the word she had used. Luckily, 'impertinent' was one of his words of the day, a few weeks ago and it was one where Nancy Bobofit had gotten detention for being impertinent in class. That had been a good day.

Right now, Percy had chosen, 'apathetic' to be his word of the day.

Apathetic – (adjective) – to be lethargic – lazy – uninterested.

"Okay." Percy called out to them. He shifted into the shot gun space which was too large for him. "Let's not be apathetic on this bright day!"

Annabeth let out a grunt and dropped her heavy bag into his lap (Oomphh!) and climbed in, ignoring that when Grover climbed in the driver's seat, all three of them were rather close. She simply looked out the window and said, "Let's drive as planned. No varying paths. I don't think anyone's following us."

"Yah." Percy muttered. "Let's go to Hollywood!"

* * *

It was like a story of a small town boy/girl who wanted to make it big on the silver screen. They travel through perils to gain success, battle the evil money-minded dealers, try their best to steer away from addictions, and emerge out a winner against all odds.

On their way to the entrance to the Underworld, that happened to be right next to the Hollywood sign (Lord Hades knew how to do things in style), Percy, Grover and Annabeth fought their way through America towards their destination.

The prophecy was slowly revealing itself. Percy thought over it in amazement. The oracle really seemed to get a glimpse of the future and gave hints to demigods so that the ones on the quests have choices to choose from. Whatever they chose, it was exactly what the prophecy meant.

Double meanings suck.

They said 'hello' to a sweet little poodle (male), who Percy almost didn't want to give back. Gladiola gave the impression of belonging to a wealthy family to whom he didn't want to go back to, but he agreed after Grover had explained their plight of dwindling mortal money to the dog.

They nearly went up the ST. Louis Gateway Arch, when Percy saw a wanted poster of himself. After that he had decided to just barter Hades for her mom.

That conversation had not gone down well.

Grover had groaned and rubbed his forehead while Annabeth was doing her best to not yell at Percy.

"You can't barter with a god! Hades will definitely hate you for being the son of Poseidon!"

"He's my uncle, can't we strike up a deal?"

"He'll simply kill you. Besides, we don't even have the Lightning Bolt. Bartering requires a minimum of two objects to be traded between a minimum of two sides."

"I'll tell him the truth. I didn't steal the bolt, so then he never had any right to set the Minotaur on me, right?"

"You'll get killed."

"May be –"

"You'll be blown into bits."

"Yeah, okay –"

"Okay? It's okay? Oh my Gods. Jackson, listen to me."

"We're into last names now? What happened to 'Horn Guy' or 'Seaweed Brain'?"

"Hades will consider you a powerful demigod for killing the Minotaur without a weapon and with no training. He will not even need a reason for killing you. In fact, you being alive will just start a war!"

"I'll just trade myself for my mother!"

Annabeth felt silent and Grover watched him in horror.

Percy sighed, "Look, I know the gods really don't want me there. Most of the campers hate me too. But my Mom's completely innocent in this. She was just trying to help. If I turn myself in, there'll be no war, she can get rid of Gabe, everyone'll live happily ever after."

Annabeth stared at him, her grey eyes, solemn and stormy. Then she said, "You really are a Seaweed Brain."

She turned away and looked out towards the monument, clearly wishing that she was on it.

Grover pulled Percy aside.

"Perce, really, I know your mother didn't deserve it but you can't bring her back. It's against the rules. Anyway, she wouldn't even let you. I've only talked to her twice, but I know she's a wonderful person. She will not let you kill yourself for her."

Percy stared at him. Grover looked a little older as he said the last sentence. But the satyr didn't understand. Mom was mortal, so she was never supposed to be involved. It was all Percy's fault and now this was the only way to clean up his mess.

Mom could then be free and find Harry. She would take him away from the Dursleys and they'd be happy.

(That rhymed.)

"I see a Burger King." Annabeth mumbled and gestured them towards a less crowded area. Grover let out a breath in relief as Percy nodded and followed her silently.

It was only after sitting in a booth that they counted their left over cash and realised that the most they could buy was a smoothie.

"Told you." Percy muttered, leaning his head onto his hand as Annabeth gave him a small glare. The waitress raised an eyebrow when Annabeth hesitated in her order of a deluxe lunch.

Then came the grand appearance of Ares.

* * *

Mom's alive. Mom's alive. Mom's alive.

Percy kept chanting the words over in his head as the trio walked over to the abandoned water park in search of Ares' shield.

If Ares was to be trusted, Annabeth had reminded him. Ares would be the first god who would want a war. Bloodshed and patriotism, the god was very vocal on his enthusiasm.

Mom had disappeared in a shower of golden light. That was not how mortals died. Monsters usually were sent back to Tartarus after being dissolved into horrible smelling gold dust. Gods... well they didn't die. Demi-gods die pretty much like mortals, worse even.

So Hades had his mother.

Percy frowned at that. Why would the god want her? Was he thinking of bartering too? What did the god want from Percy?

He kicked a small stone into an alley beside them, thinking hard on the matter, when the stone, unluckily, bounced and hit a tall rugged looking boy behind his knee.

"What the –" The boy looked around and his entire gang of surly, messy boys turned towards the two demigods and satyr.

Percy looked up. The gang did not look friendly. "Guys." He whispered. Annabeth and Grover turned around and stopped at the sight of a small crowd stalking towards them.

Annabeth immediately took out her dagger and braced herself. Grover started trembling a little, his bravado disappearing. Percy took out Riptide, wanting to get used to his sword. He clicked it and swung it through the closest and largest boy/man.

The sword went clean through him.

Mortal.

Mortal boys.

"Oops." Percy muttered. Annabeth grabbed the two boys and they ran with the horde stumbling after them.

The large amusement park they had been eyeing loomed before them and Grover pointed at the gates.

"Locked." He said and Percy looked up at the tall iron rusted gates with a large lock and chain. Annabeth pushed against the gates which clanked and shook before staying still.

"You have some godly device that can open it?" Percy asked anxiously as he checked up on the group chasing them. Luckily all three of them were faster than mortals.

She nodded. "Hands and legs."

She placed her foot on the tilted rung of iron and the bottom and started climbing. The gate creaked with her wait, but she easily turned over and jumped, dusting off the rust.

"Come on. I'm hungry."

Oh, she probably thought nothing about the big boys looking forward to pummel them all. They ran towards the large stands of cotton candy, popcorn, sweets, tickets, House of Mirrors and finally hid inside a stall of water beds. The boys passed away shouting and slurring their words as though they were drunk.

"I've always wanted a water bed." Percy said appreciatively, looking at a large mouldy one.

* * *

"I don't like water beds anymore." Percy said after beheading Crusty.

* * *

"Don't get too close to it!" Annabeth said, whipping away the pink scarf from Percy's grasp. "No love magic for you!"

"Uhh..."

"Just grab the shield and get out of here. That symbol, Eta, gives me the creeps."

Percy shook his head to clear the fuzziness from his brain. The scarf had been so pretty...

As he reached for the shield, his outstretched fingers hit a tiny thin wire, like a spider web.

Lights, cameras, action.

Annabeth screamed. A high pitched shriek which went right through Percy's ears almost immobilising him in his spot. Ares' shield was lying uselessly in his grip. He looked ahead and mumbled, "That's a lot of spiders."

Even as he slowly got up, a hand clutched his upper arm and a leg went around his hip.

Grover's eyes widened as he saw the chaos below. Swarms of golden metallic spiders were crowding around the duo in the empty basin and Annabeth was swearing and yelling in Greek and climbing over Percy, literally.

One of her legs was wrapped around his waist, her other leg was on his shoulder; she perched herself on his back and clutched his head, enveloping her arms around his face, effectively blocking his vision.

"_Let go, you crazy girl!"_

"NO!"

"Hephaestus!" The satyr muttered and ran towards the controls of the ride.

The Thrill Ride of Love turned into a Thrill Ride of _screaming-due-to-spiders-so-get-out_!

* * *

Well, they finally did get out, argued flat out with a god too while they were at it.

It was just because he was new to all this. Percy really did try his best. All the while, as they travelled through the rest of the distance, passing through Vegas and getting stuck there in the Lotus Casino, getting the feeling that they were being watched, getting Annabeth to laugh finally, in that stuffy little van that they snuck onto, freeing the animals, reaching Hollywood but not going into Beverly Hills, nearly escaping Tartarus, playing fetch with Cerebrus...

No, the quest could have gone better, but it was over. Percy couldn't help but smile. Though he had just recovered from the scorpion bite (Annabeth was a sweety at heart), he had asked Args to drop him by the closest bus depot at Manhattan, after having decided to stay with his Mom for the school year and be at Camp during the holidays, like a vacation.

The door was locked and Percy groaned at what he would come to meet. His father had said that Hades had returned Mom, but nobody had said anything about Gabe.

Before he could ring the bell, the door swung open and Mom swept him up in a bear hug nearly lifting him off the floor.

"My little baby!" She gasped.

"Mom!" Percy gasped. "Can't breath!"

"Oh!" She dropped him down and held his face in both hands, checking to see if there was any bruise. She ran her fingers through his hair and calmed down, her eyes softening at his slightly fresh look (food of the gods can do wonders for one's health.)

"Are you alright?" Percy asked, whispering when he got the smell of tobacco. Urgh, Gabe was here.

She nodded and grinned, "Yes. I can't believe you're staying with me! You'd be safer at Camp."

"But I'd be better off with you." Percy couldn't help but smile at his mother's blush. Sure she was as pale as himself and Harry, but strangely, she could make her cheeks pink, while they couldn't. Anyway, Percy thought that she wouldn't look horrible even if the gods tried.

"Sally?! Where's the meatloaf?"

She sighed. Percy frowned.

"Mom. We don't need him anymore."

She looked at him in shock.

.

"Gabe?" A low voice called from the door way and the surly bald man turned in his chair to glare at the woman standing at the door, her arm around her young son.

"You!" He shouted.

"Me." Percy said smiling.

"Leave." Sally said unsmiling.

"What?" Gabe asked getting up.

"Leave." Sally repeated stepping into the room.

"You little –"

"Unless you're dead and are incapable of reading my lips..." Sally said in a stronger voice. Percy smirked. "I'm asking you to get the – "

She covered Percy's ears.

" - hell out of here."

Gabe raised his eyebrows. The men sitting at the table looked at each other confused.

"Strong words for you, Sally. What makes you think –"

"I've given it a lot of thought. This entire situation was my doing. I certainly didn't marry you for your charm."

Her sarcasm made Percy chuckle. Yeah, he missed her.

"I – "

"Shut up and pack. Only your stuff. Leave everything else which I bought. Which obviously means you'll be travelling light."

Gabe glowered at her. He started forwards as Sally folded her arms. Her fingers trembled a little, Percy noticed, but he touched her elbow and she relaxed.

"What makes you think you can kick me out of my house?"

"Who bought this house? I did. Who bought the car? I did. Who paid for your life and health insurance? I did. By the way, that subscription will soon be cancelled. This is my life and my son's. Get out."

Percy stood by his mother's side and mouthed, _You just got burnt!_

Sally glared at the others. "Out!"

Gabe looked surprised when his four friends, scrambled out of the living room and out the door.

"Pepe and I are going to take a walk. By the time we're back, you better be gone. I don't care where you end up. I've stopped caring about you after you had the gall to threaten one of my boys and that was years ago. O-U-T."

Percy's face twisted into a dangerous smile. He looked like Harry.

Gabe stared at the duo open-mouthed.

Sally sighed, "I'm not kidding. Half-an-hour Gabriel." She looked down at Percy who immediately gave her a sweet smile. At his look, she took off her ring and slipped it into her pocket breathing softly.

"Bye. And don't open the refrigerator. There's something wrong."

Percy muffled a laugh behind his palm and when his mother turned around, he gave Gabe a thumbs down.

Yes, it might have been mean, but the guy deserved it.

He took his mother's hand without hesitation and they walked out the apartment into the bright day.

"Hey Mom? I look good in blue hair, don't I? How would I look in purple?"

Before she could answer him, there was a sound of a car door slamming and an unfamiliar voice called out.

"Mrs. Jackson?"

Percy turned back, but his mother kept walking as though there was no one.

A tall dark haired man who had leaning against a large awesome looking car. Percy tried to guess the model and ended up deciding that it was a Scorpio.

The man took off his sun-glasses and started following them.

"Um... Mom?" Percy whispered. His mother sighed and turned around. She looked up at the stranger and said, "It's _Ms. Jackson_. There's no 'Mrs.' here, I'm tired of people getting it wrong."

The man looked slightly apologetic but he stuck out his hand and said, "I'm sorry, Ms. Jackson. But I do need to speak to you. I'm Special Agent Don Eppes of FBI. I'm here out of call of concern for your son..."

The adults looked at Percy who stared back.

"Percy Jackson?" The Agent asked.

"Yeah?"

"Well, after the incidents that occurred in downtown Manhattan and Los Angeles, well, I'd just like to take note of how the both of you are."

Percy looked up at him wondering why an FBI person would be interested in him. Mortals didn't know what really happened. He should've looked completely innocent to them. Yet, the tone of this man's voice clearly said, 'There's-something-up-and-I'll-find-out-soon.'

"_He suspects something. Tell Mom to be careful_." Flo whispered into Percy's ear. He nearly jumped at her presence but calmed down as she took his hand.

Apparently, Mom looked wary too. "Well, thank you. We're much better now."

She rubbed Percy's shoulders and smiled, "But it was sweet of you to check up on us. I assure you, we'll have a better time in coming days, won't we, Pepe?"

Percy smiled, showing off his teeth at his mother and the Agent. Flo giggled at his 'angelic' look.

"That's good." The man muttered. "Well, I'm sure you will. Meanwhile, we'll be in contact soon, Ms. Jackson."

He gave them a nod and put on his sun-glasses before walking away to his car.

They watched him leave and then his mother said, "He's not bad on the eyes, is he?"

"Mom!"

"Kidding! Oh Gods, your face was priceless, though. So, tell me about Camp."

She steered them around and Percy slung an arm around her waist, leaning into her reminiscing his Camp moments.

"It's great. Did you know there's an old piano in the Big House? By the way, what do you think about purple hair dye?"

* * *

**This is the end of his first quest. I'll be putting up the next one in the same story. I'll try to make it short. Then I'll continue the cliff-hanger from 'The Lost'.**

**Stay tuned for the chapters.**

**Cabba.**


	6. Finally

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series. All the nine books (soon to be ten) belong to Rick Riordan. References to the Harry Potter books do not indicate any claim over them. JK Rowling owns her series.**

**Words –2913**

* * *

_The blue strawberry fell slowly and dramatically through the air and landed in his palm. Harry tilted his head as he gauged the fruit. The pip glistened as dew drops fell of it. Then he lowered his hand and a black dog materialized next to the crouching boy and gobbled up the strawberry._

The dream changed.

_The water was washing away the colour. Percy's hair turned black. The strands washed over his face as it was too long. But he was unconscious. He shouldn't know what was happening around him when he was passed out, right?_

_There were sounds of leaves being stepped on and a girl's gasp. It sounded familiar. _

"_Don't move." A boy's voice commanded._

_That sounded familiar too._

The vision changed.

_The white gowns moved as someone flitted through the dresses. There was silence for a few seconds before a huge form passed over the shop. _

_A horrible smell permeated the air. It was made of wet sheep plus rotting meat plus monster body odour. The wind blew around the broken store and a flash of lightning illuminated the sign above. – ST. AUGUSTINE'S BRIDAL BOUTIQUE._

_A few white veils flew over the smaller silhouette which had goat legs and hooves._

"_Percy!" He hissed. "I know you can hear me! Come on! This is not a dream, you hear me? I know why the satyrs never come back alive! They're being lured. It's in the Sea of Monsters!"_

_There was a roar as something exploded and shouted, "MINE!"_

Percy woke up so fast that he threw off his covers, leapt onto his bed, his sharp dagger, Oneroi, in his left hand while clutching his bronze sword, Riptide in the other.

His room was bright and silent. There was nothing to show anything strange. The window was partially open for breeze, the curtains fluttered slightly, sunlight streamed into the room.

Nothing strange at all. Except for Percy.

He sighed and dropped back onto the mattress which creaked. What a nightmare! It had felt like Grover. Being a demigod was not easy. Not even when he was asleep. Dreams were the gateways to prophetic nightmares.

A slip of a shadow passed by and Percy opened his eyes, frowning.

He was alone. But that didn't make any sense. He got up, running his hands through his freshly dyed purple hair and leaned out his window.

The apartment was five stories tall and theirs were on the top. He looked around the rickety fire escape and on the sides of the wall, but there was nobody.

He groaned and fell back onto the bed.

"Percy!" His Mom's voice called from the kitchen.

"Five more minutes, Mom!" He yelled back.

More than five minutes later, he was sitting at the table. His mother was packing her small bag with a few papers, brushing some of her hair back into a braid and smoothening down her dress.

"I won't be there when you get back home. After work, I'll be going to the editor's office. You can go out for dinner with Tyson."

She handed him some money and then pecked him on his cheek.

"You should've waited for at least another day." She said pointing to his hair. Instead of the usual black or an accident blue, it was dark purple. It didn't look as strange as the blue had done because of the darker hue, but Percy was very pleased with the shade. Add to the fact that it was a Friday and that the Meriwether College Prep was very lax about rules like personal being especially on casual Fridays.

"Mom, it's completely nature friendly. Can you get the grape smell? It'll mix with my scent and confuse any monsters. It's perfectly safe. Plus, Tyson'll love it!"

She gave him a smile. "Well, I know it's good for your hair, but I think I should be stricter about this. Most parents wouldn't let their kids do this."

Percy grinned at her, "That's because most parents aren't as cool as you. Besides, it's the last day of school, I'll be leaving for Camp tomorrow –"

"No." She said unexpectedly.

* * *

Annabeth looked terrible. Her clothes were worn out and torn, her hair had a few leaves tangled messily in it, and her hands kept twitching as if she expected the trio to be attacked at any second.

The trio, meaning Percy, Annabeth and Tyson.

The three of them tumbled out of the Taxi Cab of Damnation (Previously, Chariot of Damnation) and Tyson looked as though he was about to heave.

"Whoa! Okay, Big Guy. It's cool. It's all cool. Deep breaths, come on. Oh no, he doesn't look too good, Annabeth, give him your back-pack."

Annabeth shot him a glare but before she could say anything, there was a roar and an explosion from the hill above them.

Percy was instantly reminded of his dream that morning where Grover was in trouble. But as far as he knew, there were no bridal stores around Camp Half-Blood.

"Gods! Camp's under attack!" Annabeth yelled running for the hills.

* * *

Thalia's tree had been poisoned. The effect was clear. The barrier around camp was deteriorating, the plants were wilting, the air was becoming smoky and the tree was drooping. In the middle of the trunk, there was a gaping hole which looked as though the tree tissue had just melted out. Percy kept thinking of his new dream he had the night he reach Camp.

Fleece. A magical fleece which attracted all satyrs to the middle of the ocean and where they were never heard from again. Percy couldn't recall if there was a legend about a sheep or fleece, but if anyone knew about it, it would Annabeth.

"That's all too convenient." She said.

Percy held his breath as the smoke from the lava raised near him. He tilted his head and scrubbed the plate thoroughly before handing them to Tyson who was cleaning the dishes dry with only a wet rag. Being a Cyclops, he was immune to lava. Of course, Tyson being a Cyclops was not only a major shock to him, but now he was a source of embarrassment in Camp like he was in Percy's school.

This made Percy upset. Not at Tyson but at himself. And his father and at Camp. Especially Tantalus.

Yes, the cursed prisoner of Tartarus. Not only was Chiron taking the blame for Thalia's tree being poisoned, Camp was also assigned a new trainer, Tantalus.

"Percy is daydreaming." Tyson said.

Percy blinked and looked up at his half-brother, "Yeah. Sorry about that. What did you say, Annabeth?"

She gave him a look before saying, "I was talking about your dream, Seaweed Brain. You said, Grover was yelling about a fleece. If it's what I'm thinking right now, we just found a way to save Camp."

Percy stopped in his movements and smiled, "Then that's good!"

Annabeth sighed, "No. I mean, yes. But it seems too straight-forward. I would've thought that our friend waaay downstairs would have tried to manipulate our dreams. After our quest, I kept going through different books and legends on how he might act or what his exact motives are. He'll start from inside your mind, Percy. There's a reason why his other name is The Crooked One."

Percy raised his eyebrows, "Crooked? Does he need a walking stick or something?"

Annabeth glared at him so hard that Percy stepped back.

"Thalia's tree is dying, Camp's in trouble, Chiron's been banished, Grover's in danger and you're making jokes! Why don't you take this seriously?! We have to do something!"

"I am! But Tantalus is in charge. The only one he'll listen to is Mr. D. And Mr. D never listens to us!"

"Brother is mad." Tyson mumbled.

Percy stopped talking and sighed. "Sorry, Tyson. I didn't mean to scare you."

Tyson nodded watching the two demi-gods before saying, "Should we save friend?"

"What?"

"Grover is your friend. We should save him."

Percy and Annabeth exchanged startled looks and then smirks.

* * *

They soon snuck out of Camp. Percy had to stop thinking against his father (which wasn't hard) when the God sent Hippocampii for them.

Tyson had immediately named his new friend, Rainbow. Percy couldn't help but agree with him. The sweet little water creature had nuzzled up to his half brother and for a second, Percy really understood how much he missed Harry. Watching Tyson to make sure the young Cyclops would be safe in every step, it was how Harry would always take care of him.

"Annabeth?" Percy whispered as they clutched the dinghy's sides, going at speeds not possible for a dinghy. Thank Hermes for the Wind flask. Tyson kept grinning at the sea spray on his face.

Annabeth turned towards Percy with a questioning look. Percy pressed his lips together for a second before sighing, "Nothing."

She looked confused but turned away. Percy couldn't help but notice how her silence seemed profound, especially after their encounter with the Princess Andromeda.

Her eyes showed him exactly how deep in thought she was in. Grey looked dark and contemplating. There was anger and fear mixed in but not towards Percy. That much was clear.

"You know about my brother?" Percy blurted out suddenly.

Tyson turned around, his eye looking larger than possible. Annabeth gave him a frown.

"Wha –"

"Yeah, his name's Harry." Percy said getting the urge to let it all out.

"Brother has a brother?" Tyson asked.

Percy nodded, "Older. But we're the same height. Well, last time I saw him."

Annabeth's look of pleasant surprise turned into shock. "Wait! Is this older brother also a son of Poseidon?"

"No. He's not my brother by blood, but he's as good as. My Mom and I used to live in England. That's where we met him. We moved back here only a few years ago. Six actually."

Annabeth frowned, "Not related?"

"No. Not a demi-god. But he's definitely different like us."

"What d'you mean?"

Percy looked towards the vast waters, taking in a breath of saltiness. May be he should stop here. But he really wanted to say something.

"_Don't look at me_." Flo said casually. Percy's imaginary friend leaned back to watch the show.

Percy sighed. "Well, he had this kind of power over all plants and flowers and trees. He could make any fruit I wanted, he could keep a garden fresh for ages and I seriously miss him."

He gave a hiccup and seemed surprised at himself. His chest contracted suddenly and Percy found it hard to breath.

Trying to calm down, he started searching his pockets for his inhaler.

He started taking sharp breaths when his panic increased. Grabbing his precious purple little device, he took a large puff, closing his eyes.

It was like breathing fresh air after years of stale suffocation. His lungs worked normally and he slumped back.

Annabeth and Tyson stared at him.

"So, you really have asthma?" Annabeth asked finally after minutes of silence.

Percy looked up, questioning.

"No, it's just that. I saw your medical bracelet last year, when you were in the infirmary." She specified.

"What is that?" Tyson asked.

"It's an inhaler." Percy said holding up it up. "Sometimes, when I have trouble breathing, I really really need it."

Tyson nodded, staring at the little inhaler in awe.

"It's not really asthma. I just have breathing problems. This helps."

"It's a weak point." Annabeth pointed out. "Anyone could kick your chest and take away your inhaler. You'd be dead in minutes."

"Thanks." Percy said soberly. He turned away from her, knowing that Harry would have said something similar to her own words.

* * *

Percy sat on his boulder, relaxing his arms on his knees. Grover was safely back in Camp. On Clarisse's return with the Golden Fleece, Thalia's tree had grown stronger and healthier. The leaves were greener, the trunk had actually grown. The strawberry fields flourished and Mr. D was in a slightly better mood though he tried to not show.

All he had said was, "Congratulations, Claire. Now let's eat."

"Her name's Clarrise!" A little boy had shouted from the Apollo bunch.

"Does it look like I care?"

"Yes!" Percy couldn't help but yelled.

Of course, Mr. D gave him his madness stare and Percy immediately had sat down. Nevertheless, Camp had found it funny, especially after Tantalus had returned to Tartarus, right after he had caught a hopping burger. Percy honestly had felt horrible for him.

Right now, Percy twisted the charms on his bronze bracelet. He could almost smell oranges in the air. Mixed with the ocean, it felt familiar. All that was needed was a hint of jasmine, that was Mom's little perfume, and Percy'd be back at home.

May be a little lemon, wouldn't hurt.

"What're you thinking, Seaweed Brain?"

He grinned to himself and turned to look at Annabeth. She looked happier than she had days ago. Now that Camp Half-Blood was stronger and safer than ever, she had stopped snapping at people so much.

Not at Percy, though. That hadn't changed.

He put out a haughty look and said, "What, Annabeth? I was, like, checking out my reflection, I have no need for you!"

He made a silly 'shoo!' gesture. Annabeth rolled her eyes and said, "I apologize, Your Highness. Do I have permission to inform you something?"

"Eh."

"Your hair-dye's fading."

Percy stared at her and then ruffled his hair, bringing the locks in front of his eyes. Sure enough, the purple looked darker.

"And you need a haircut." Annabeth said, rolling up her jeans and walking into the surf.

"Jeez, you sound like my Mom." Percy muttered. Not that his Mom complained about it, he just too lazy to go to the barbers. Besides, he was pretty sure that Harry's was even worse.

"Mind if I pick around your brain?" Annabeth asked when she was shin deep in the water. Percy shrugged.

"I keep thinking about Tyson." He admitted. When their Dad had called Tyson to his palace to work for him, Percy had to admit that he was slightly jealous. But the fact that Tyson was excited that he was jumping on all the bunks, breaking a few frames was enough for Percy to focus on calming his brother down to accept the offer.

And later that night, he had received some advice and a letter from Lord Hermes.

Well, the letter was from Poseidon and it wasn't very helpful.

_Brace yourself._

As a demigod, it went without saying. So if his father would send a message like that, it meant something big was clearly going to happen. Either his father knew it, or didn't.

Annabeth let out a sigh. "Yeah, I miss him. Tyson's a good friend."

"He's family." Percy corrected. He slipped off the rock and stumbled in the waves. Grabbing the boulder and nearly cutting himself on the barnacle shells, he walked towards Annabeth.

"Did you know that my Dad could turn himself into mist and travel to different places?"

Annabeth looked at him, "All Gods can travel long distances. Well, not into each other's territories, of course."

"Yeah, but I was thinking, since I'm a son of Poseidon, maybe I could travel by mist too. Or by water." Percy said slowly, wondering if she was going to scoff.

Annabeth kicked the water and wet sand off her toes. "I don't know. I mean, Maybe you could, but then again, it sounds heady."

"Exactly. Come on." He grabbed her head and pulled her further into the ocean.

"What are you doing?" She asked, trying to pull up her jeans again.

He watched her do that and then said, "Do you want to stand on the water?"

Annabeth stared.

Percy took a deep breath to calm himself. For a second, he could almost get a scent of oranges.

The waters around them turned a little serene. He felt a slight pressure in his gut. Then he lifted his right leg out of the waves and placed it solidly on top of the water. He put his weight on it and lifted himself off the ocean to stand over it.

"Oh my –"

"Go ahead." Percy said grinning. He took her other hand to lift her up. Annabeth stumbled but then, soon, she too was standing over the waves.

"I can feel the water. But our weight's bending the surface. You know, some insects can skip over water very quickly and they have water-proof oil which they secrete in their little legs and arms. The effects are the same as this, they don't get wet at all." Annabeth said, a little guarded.

Percy smiled. Harry would have hated this. He didn't like water much – Percy could tell that as Harry would sometimes refuse to go in the water whenever they had gone to Cristy Beach.

"Maybe I should practice the mist thing?" Percy said, watching the morning sun. Annabeth shrugged, half-listening to him.

For a moment, Percy felt like he really could do it. If he could travel by the mist or water, then he could reach London or Surrey. May be into the river in the forest. Then he'd see Harry again.

"Percy!" Annabeth said in alarm. The water was swirling around them. Percy didn't hear her. He felt an intense sensation of pain as the water rose completely above their heads and then fell…

… leaving no trace of the two demigods who were there before.

* * *

**The new story will be released soon. I'm travelling, but I'll get it up as soon as I can. The title will be - Family is Everything.**

**Stay tuned until then!**

**Cabba.**


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